A Story In Pictures - "Cai's Cars"

Cai's Cars

A Short Story Inspired By My Son, Micaiah,

And His Love For Cars

I found some cars inside my shoes

and resting in a basket

 I see them riding back and forth

those little cars of plastic

A smile comes across my face

when by surprise I find

these little cars that occupy this sweet, sweet boy of mine.

Observations, A Tribute and Eternal Hope

Last Friday I told you that my Grandpa died.  I loved him so much!

It’s not like I got to see him all that much, seeing as how he lived in Denver, CO, but for some reason I have always felt a close connection with him.

Maybe it was because he was so much like my dad.

Maybe it was his gentle spirit about him.

Maybe it was the way he cut his orange(s) every morning for breakfast.

Maybe it was the tremors I felt in his hands when I’d hold them while we’d pray.

Maybe it was the way he always made light of sad situations.

Maybe it was the way he’d scratch his back on the corner of a wall like a bear against a tree.

Maybe it was the smell of his Old Spice aftershave that would fill the house after his shower.

Maybe it was the way he would make himself laugh, in turn, making everyone around him laugh.

Maybe it was his love for Jeeping and fishing in the mountains.

Maybe it was his endless stashes of snacks that grandma would always try to keep out of his reach.  He’d just say, “I’m just snitchin’”

Maybe it was his sweet kisses or the way he’d swallow you up in his huge hugs.

Maybe it was the way he helped us pan for gold in the freezing cold mountain creeks.

Maybe it was the way I could crawl up in his lap for him to do the German “Cau Crichen”

I have loved all of my grandparents.  I miss all my grandparents.

When I heard the news about Grandpa I started crying.  Zeke came up to me with a very concerned look on his face and asked what was wrong.  I told him why I was sad and he said, very lovingly,  “but it’s okay mommy…you get to see him in heaven again.”

What a sweet reminder that as a believer we know that it isn’t over!  We have the hope of eternal life with  our Heavenly Father, free of fear, sadness, pain…and goodbyes.

Thought Process

Wow, what a week!

This has been the week that just would not end.  Or at least the week where crappy things just kept happening.  I have a whole week's worth of "Not Me Mondays" that I could post about.  I'll spare you all the stories, for now:)

My emotions have been in full gear this week.  So much so, that Josh actually kicked me out of the house.  It was all out of love, but I'm beginning to think that it was more for his sanity than mine, ha!

Sanity...I almost lost mine this week.  Yes, on several occasions, but the one that stands out the most is when I happened to lose one of my children.  Yup, I won't mention this Super Hero's name, but I'll give you one guess.

Speaking of Super Hero's...my Grandpa was one of my super heroes.  He went to be with Jesus this week.  He was my last living grandparent.  I loved him so much.  I had a special connection with him.  I miss him, even though I didn't get to see him all that much.  I'm making my trek back out to Colorado on Sunday afternoon for his funeral.

Funerals...I'm beginning to think that we need to begin some kind of funeral ritual for all the little critters who don't have the privilege at making their escape from the loving little fingers of my kids.  I "found" one such critter who had actually made an escape.  He didn't quite make it back to his home, but instead found safety in the linen closet in the kids bathroom.  I found him while looking for a band-aid.  Ironically, a band-aid will do nothing for this crispy little fellow now...

Don't look too closely at the junk on my floor.  

It's a corner in a closet, OK!

Crispy reminds me of crunchy.  Crunchy reminds me of the crunch I heard when I had a little "fender-bender" while driving my new boat around the parking lot last week.  The poor little Toyota Corola didn't know what "hit" him!  I do though, and now every time we go out Areyna asks if we are going to have another accident or if I'm going to hit another car.  Awesome.

It's amazing the things that just happen to occur when you are trying to raise money to adopt!  Hospital bills, broken down cars, speeding tickets (for the first time in 8 years), car accidents (for the first time in 8 years), stolen cell phones...

Oh yes, Josh's phone got stolen while were playing at CharlotteONE last week!  It is quite an amazing story.  It is a MUST READ!  It has led to a new form of Evangelism that I like to call "Textelism":)

One more thing that has been causing this mind of mine to spin out of control...

Our yard sale!  Now, don't get me wrong when I say this, I am SOOOO grateful for the donated items, but I so ready to have my house back!  This little OCD mind of mine can only handle so much and I'm running out of EXITs to get in and out of my house:)

The List!

Our YARD SALE is going to be EPIC!  If you don't make it here on Friday and Saturday you are missing out!  We have been absolutely blown away with the generosity of people as they have donated their belongings for us to sell at our yard sale.  I do believe, without exaggeration, that this is going to be the biggest yard sale that Rolesville has ever seen!!!!  I'm going to attempt to list some things to come and look for...it is insane here at my house. 

I thought I'd attempt at listing some of things I could remember right off the top of my head that we have for the sale:

KIDS:  clothes, shoes, train tables, cribs, crib bedding sets, kitchen sets, tool benches, cars, trucks, legos, dolls, stuffed animals, strollers, car seats, car seat base, Playmobile toy sets, toys-toys-toys, learning games, puzzles, games, pop-up tent, pack-n-play, bouncy seat, bottles, cloth diapers, boppy and cover, hangers, books, text books...

KITCHEN: dishes, coffee makers, coffee travel mugs, gadgets, dish towels


CAR:  organization things


MUSIC:  guitar stand, CD's, headphones, instrument learning books


DVD's and VHS's



GAME: wee fit accessories, Game cube, family and adult board games, adult puzzles


ADULT:  clothes, shoes, novels, books, Bibles, men's suites


BAGS / POCKET BOOKS / ACCESSORIES

PET: eating/drinking bowls, fish tanks


HOME: candles, candle holders, photo albums, picture frames, home decor "stuff", baskets, Christmas decorations, Coke collection, pictures/prints

HEALTH AND BEAUTY:  Massagers, lotions and such:)

FURNITURE/SMALL APPLIANCES: kitchen sink, refrigerator, lamps, fans, couches, love seats, TV's, cameras, bed frames, side tables, lamp tables, patio table

AND SO, SO, SO MUCH MORE!

So, tell all your friends and get your butt over here and buy this stuff:)

Lessons From The Classroom - Teacher Evaluations

I have been questioning my ability to adequately teach my children over the past few months.

I know where the problem started, though.

I planned out my fall.  We had so much fun.  We learned a lot and the kids actually looked forward to school every day.

And then the New Year came...and I had nothing.  I never took the time to plan out the rest of the year.  We were just trying to get through 3 reading lessons a week.  But it was becoming an uphill battle.

We LOVED our curriculum at first, but poor Rainy was getting bored with it and her lesson was ending up taking WAY.MORE.TIME. than it should, and by that time we were both out of motivation to work on anything else fun, no matter how exciting and knowledgeable it might be.  We have heard this from a few friends that have used this book.  Some have divided a single lesson into 2 parts.  We have opted to do the first part and then Areyna can choose her own book to read.

I always said that my focus was to just get Areyna reading.

We have done that...and more.  I know.

But for some reason, I felt compelled to make an appointment at the Elementary school behind our house.  It would be Zeke and Rainy's base school.  It's a year-round school.  We could actually walk their from our back yard.  I thought it was worth taking a look into, just to see what our options are.

To us, we don't believe that homeschooling is the ONLY way.  We also don't feel like formal schooling is the ONLY way, either!

In order to evaluate this next year appropriately we have to step back, assess what each child in our family needs in this particular season in our lives.

For us, right now, our adoption is pretty far up on the priority list, which doesn't belittle our need for excellent education, but it does limit our options.  Since we feel like we need our biological children to be a part of this process overseas, that means that a lot of days would be missed from school.  As a matter of fact, it could mean that the kids would have to repeat a grade, since we aren't exactly sure when we are traveling, or exactly how long we will have to be in Uganda.

Here is a list of ... well, I don't exactly know what this list is, but I know I DO like lists and they make me feel better:)

• I am pretty sure Zeke is not academically ready for Kindergarten.  We will be working on ABC school and he is very excited!  I found an excellent sight with FREE downloadable material and games.  Areyna and I have already been working hard on getting it ready!
• Areyna wants desperately to stay at home.  She went to Pre-school so she understands "school", and she would prefer to stay home.
• It has been a battle to get her reading done.  This is an easy fix!  Find a new curriculum.  Josh and I took a trip to The Homeschool Gathering Place.  Although it was a bit overwhelming, I mean, really?  A store FULL of options?  Anyway, we went, we conquered found several good starting points and I am anxious to get back there and pick something and go with it!
• I visited the site that was the base for my teacher planning last fall.  I was pleasantly surprised at all the things I realized Areyna DID know and now know the few things we can work on to get every point checked off the list.
• I went back and read several of my own entries about why on earth we decided to homeschool in the first place.  It was really encouraging to see that all the "reasons" still apply, and to remember just what was going through our heads, when this decision was made, ha!
• For me, I know that homeschooling will not always come as naturally to me as it seems to come to others.  I know that I probably will not "enjoy" teaching my children about all 50 states and the reasons why a pill dissolves better in soda than milk, or does it?  I don't believe that the path we choose will always be the easy one, but I do believe that the Lord will give us exactly what we need to accomplish His goal!  
•  I do believe that for us, this next year we will be homeschooling again.  We will re-evaluate our family and the season of life we are in and decide, yet again, which direction we will go next.
• FYI - A lot can get accomplished through bribery positive incentives such as sticker charts and Dollar Store trips:) 

Final Comments:
I believe that the teacher has done a fair job at accomplishing the goal she set for the year.  I also feel as though the teacher may be too hard on herself and must continually remind herself that she must be who God has made her to be, not who He made someone else to be.  That she must encourage her students to be who God has made them to be, not who God has made others to be.  If the teacher decides to do workbooks, and that is what the students enjoy, then by golly, they will do workbooks, and if the teacher sees that another student learns better through playing games, then by golly, let the games begin!

Via & Via Adoption Yard Sale Fundraiser

This weekend is a HUGE weekend!  We are joining together with Josh's brother and his family who are also adopting from the same orphanage in Uganda, and throwing a MEGA yard sale!

It's here in Rolesville at our house.  Email me if you are interested in stopping by, helping set-up, or just to donate some unwanted around your house (josh n tash @ hotmail . com). 

Here is the write-up and links from the Facebook page we have created for the event:

Smooth & Kelly Via and Josh & Tasha Via are in the thick of the adoption process. Their daughters are living together in an orphanage in Bukaleba, Uganda. We are trying to work together to raise money to bring our little girls home.

You can help make this a reality.

We will be hosting a joint yard sale at Josh & Tasha's house in Rolesville, NC on May 7, 2011 from 7:30am-2pm
...
Not only are you welcome to come to this event, but your donations for the yard sale would be very much appreciated!

We are accepting ANYTHING that you may have just sitting around your house that you have been thinking about getting rid of or that is just taking up space.

Please email us and let us know if you have anything you would be willing to part with for us to sell at our yard sale.
Tasha joshntash @ hotmail .com
Kelly kellyvia @ yahoo .com

To DONATE directly to Smooth & Kelly's Adoption or simply to read about their journey visit: http://www.connecttocharity.com/Cause/Detail/492/54-1757324/414

To DONATE directly to Josh & Tasha's Adoption or simply to read about their journey visit: http://tashavia.blogspot.com/p/our-adoption-journey.html

So, come on out and join us, support us, help us, tell your friends for us!

WHEN:  Friday and Saturday - May 6 and May 7

WHAT TIME:  8am-2pm

WHERE: Rolesville, NC 

Straw Bale Gardening: Progress Report

Just LOOK at my beautiful garden!

Everything has gone exactly as planned:)

Well...

Before you get too envious of my success

I must admit something...

I lied!

Almost NONE of my seedlings took after I transplanted them:(

All I had left were 4 tomato plants, 1 pumpkin seedling and a few marigolds.

But apparently mushrooms are the way to go!

I didn't even have to plant these bad boys

They just started growing...and growing...and growing...

Josh is so sweet though.

Just like anything I try, we have an agreement

that it is based on trial and error.

Starting a garden by seed definitely ran on the "error" side of the spectrum

and Josh was more than willing to let me go to Lowe's

to get some more mature plants to try again.

Besides, Lowe's has a 1-year guarantee on all their plants.

Even if you are the cause of their death,

which in my case, is always the case,

they will let you get a new one!

So, now I'm working on keeping these little guys alive!

They seem to like their new home so far:)

Super Proud Mom!

Yes, you read these sticker chart titles correctly.

And YES, every sticker on these two charts has been earned!

A couple of months ago we did a youth retreat for some friends.  They had a thumb sucker who is just a little younger than Areyna.  She told me about a thumb guard (Stop Thumb Sucking with Thumb Guard Kit (Size Medium/Ages 5-6) that they got that worked an absolute miracle for their son!  After a couple of weeks he kicked the habit!

After hearing of their success I was determined that this would be a worthy investment for our kids.

We told Areyna that if she could stop sucking her thumb by the time we left for Africa we would take her to get her ears pierced.  She was more than willing to agree to using a thumb guard to "help" her kick her habit too:)

The next week while Josh and I were away for our anniversary, Josh's mom did a little research of her own and found these little hand-made thumb guards for a fraction of the cost.

Now, I had my doubts that these would work.  For starters, they are fabric and Velcro...that's it!  My kids can take them off, and if they were smart enough to get this stuff off then I thought these new contraptions would be a joke.

I have been pleasantly surprised at the success we've had.  The kids got to pick out their own design, which I think has been a big reason for the success.  We also did a 21-day chart to begin a new habit of NOT sucking their thumbs.  As you can tell, Areyna has had a couple set backs, but overall, they have done excellent!  They don't even have to sleep with "Bubby" and "Bear" anymore!

The only rules are that the thumbguards have to be ON and DRY in order to get a sticker for their chart.

Areyna has informed us that she really doesn't want to get her ears pierced...she'd rather have a bunny.  Hmmm...we'll have to see about that, ha!  Zeke has been more than excited to get to pick out whatever he wants at the Dollar Store:)  Oh, the simple pleasure of a child...

Now, if we could just get Cai on board...

Caption Please