A slice of summer-June

It may look like winter in this picture, but we started the month out with a graduation party for another niece, Cassie Marie!! We are so proud of her, she will be attending U of M this fall for Ag Education. She is a born teacher, she loves music, drama, ag, her family, and life!!

Our little boys have been spending quite a bit of time in their pool this summer.

Sometimes, all you can see is 2 little black heads in there, as they are both bent over their little projects...

which are quite often, aggravating one another...

Isaac has really gotten the idea that he SHOULD have whatever Isaiah has, and he makes no bones about it, when he wants it, he will really go after it!!

(Much to his big brother's dismay)

Nick and Tyler like to visit the creek-Kendell goes along to take pictures, and sometimes goes in the water, but it must be adolescence, she is much less ambitious this summer, and tends to prefer household forms of work and entertainment...

building a dam, or trying to, is the highlight of their day!! Oh to be a boy, and enjoy playing in the mud...

They really do love each other-most of the time, they even remember that!!!

this was actually a May picture of our garden when it was just getting planted-only a small portion of it!!

Here we are, with peas popping up, and tomato plants put in and next month, you won't believe the jungle out here!!!

With June comes heat, and with heat, came the need for an air conditioner. Father and son working together to get in installed and runing-Nick loves this kind of stuff, and is a great helper for his Dad.

One of the hottest days of June was also one of the most educational for my 2 oldest boys.

My Dad needed help putting a new roof on his shed-the ONLY day of the whole month that worked for all of us was a 94 degree, sticky, icky day, but Nick and Tyler were real troopers and learned somthing along the way.

My Dad was a roofer in his younger years, and he loves to show Nick and Ty how to build things, how to fix things, and how to figure things out!! Thanks Dad, I really appreciate that!!

Little Man enjoyed toddling around the shady yard and experimenting with the different tres.

First he pulled maple branches down into his face and giggled and giggled, then he played with the soft new growth on the pine trees-he is quite the goer, and it took all of us to keep an eye on him...

Grandma engaged the little boys in some catch, and rock throwing, but mainly, it was, "where's Isaac?"

After a hot day at my Dad's, we went to my mom's and she had the cousins over and the 7 kids enjoyed an evening together with Grandpa!

Isaiah was learning to actually use the pedals on the trikes-he still prefers to push himself on the ground, but we are really working with him to use the pedals!! If we had a little more cement at home, I think he would have better success...

What's that green mesh I see? It looks like fencing. It feels like fencing, IT ACTS LIKE FENCING!!!

Praise the Lord, a fence for our little toddler, who had us in fits a couple times when he "disappeared" for a couple minutes-Thanks Mom, we really needed this fence, and it has worked wonderfully all summer long-Isaac's giant play pen!!

It runs the whole length of the shed, and gives them both PLENTY of room to roam, and they actually stay pretty happy and content in here, for sometimes 1-2 hours.

The only downside to is it there is NO shade, and it can get pretty hot, but then, the pool goes in there, and they have cold, even if no shade!!

We were finally able to go to the garden and work for more than 5 minutes without someone running after Isaac and dragging him back to the sandbox, or the dirt, and then he would be off and running again-

I FINALLY got my Grandma's clematis planted in my own yard. A dear friend housed it for me for 3 years while we were in various shades of selling and buying, and it looks fabulous, and handled the move very well.

Home made pizza-can't wait to be using my own pizza sauce again-and by the looks of my tomato plants, I should have plenty of everything tomato this year!!!

Next up, July!!!

Blessings

Chris

A slice of summer/ok, May!!

I have so many things I want to share about the goings on in our family-5 children does keep us really busy, and we have been having a lot of fun this summer, even if it's not the TYPICAL summer fun.

Mostly, lots of lazy, hazy days of summer type stuff. And throw in a lot of gardening and flowerbed revamping for good measure. Lots of play time in the sand, lots of little boy pool time, lots of big boy creek time, and throw in the never-ending paperwork for our adoptions, and you have a busy summer for the Waughtals.

I thought I would do a catch-up post for May, June and July, but I have excruciatingly painful slow picture upload tonight, lost all my pics once and had to start over again, and decided we would make it a 3 part post-May, June, and July!!

For Wisconsin, May was cold, wet, and COLD!!!

Not as wet as last year, but lots of rain, none-the-less, and below normal temps for the whole month. Crops started out very slow, our garden took forever to get going, but we are also in a valley, and I have never gardened on low ground before, so this has been a learning year for me as well-and things grow a lot slower down low, especially when it is WET and COLD!!!

We started the month out with a bang, with Mother's Day, and such a blessing with gifts from the children, and a special email from Rosalyn!! The next weekend, one of our nieces got married.

We welcomed Torrey Berendez to our family. He and Nicole had a very nice, small wedding, and we are very happy for them.

Next, our big adventure included ordering chicks. We hadn't gotten around to getting any chickens in the hub-bub of last summer, and this year, we were determined to add a flock to our farm.

I think all 7 of us were giddy the day they arrived-we are just really animal lovers, and LOVE to know where our food is coming from, and homegrown eggs are THE BEST!!!

Yes, it will still be a while before we have any fresh eggs from our own chickens, but the chicks have been fun to have around again.

                                YES, that is my kitchen table, but it all washes off, and what can I say? I love the little critters too, and wanted to get some pics of my little boys with their first chicks!!!

Everyone got into the act of dipping their little beaks in the nutrient pack they needed right out of the box-quite a way to spend a Friday morning-and we all loved it.

Tyler loved getting his hands on the furry little critters, he wasn't home yet the last time we had chicks, and he was super-excited. He has turned into a real animal lover, especially the small ones he can hold.

Isaac is thrilled with anything that moves, and though he wasn't sure he wanted to hold one, he was sure intrigued with them. Don't those eyes just spell trouble???

We became an official TODDLER family this spring, and boy, life will never be the same. Isaac started walking the end of April, and by the end of May, there was no holding him back. He is ALL OVER, and I do mean, ALL over. You would think it would be easy for me to lose my winter weight chasing him all over, but actually, I think that's what Kendell and Nick have been doing, losing weight, and patience, with chasing their little brother All over!!

We just love that little high step he does, and the way he holds his hands out for balance

we call him our little penguin!

First, he was our seal, now a penguin. I wonder what will be next???

Well, I will be back soon with a June update, and hopefully, the picture upload won't be quite so painful next time!!

and it was Definitely Warmer in June-so more summerish stuff coming up!

Blessings

Chris

USCIS APPROVAL!!!

Oh Happy Day!! We received our I 797 C, an official Federal Govt form that states we are approved to adopt 2 children from China!!

YIPPEE!!!

We just received our documents back from the Secretary of State on Thursday with their official State Seal on them, and sent them out to the Chicago China Consulate for their authentication.

Now, we have to do the same with this approval, and, THEN.......

we can be Dossier to China.... DTC!!!!!

Oh, things are moving along really well, and our girls are getting closer to coming home to Wisconsin!!

and we are getting closer to heading to China!!!

Another big hurdle this week was crossed. I called the IRS to see how they were proceeding on our Tax Review.

I had faxed aboutt 30 pages of adoption paperwork concerning our 3 little boys, and all statements of fees paid, on July 7, and was only calling so make sure they had received it.

To our surprise, we were told our case was closed on July 15, and we were approved for our refund!!

YIPPEE!!!!!

Now, we wait to actually see the funds show up in our account!!

Oh, God is so good, and I just need to keep trusting Him that this will all be completed in HIS perfect time!!

Blessings

Chris

The special faces of Special Needs

Did you ever wonder about Special Needs? I mean, what it looks like, what family life is like, how people adjust to children with different needs, whether they be emotional, cognitive, behavioral or developmental or physical?

A few years ago, I would have confidently said, "we don't do special needs."However, our son Isaiah has changed our outlook, or maybe it was God changing our hearts!! We now know that any children added to our family will be special needs. They will have some issue, some illness, behavior, or delay that is termed, "special need". In the case of our 2 new daughters, their special need is quite simply age, although Rosalyn  does has a repaiared cleft lip as well.

We have acknowledged that physical special needs can be challenging, as can mental and developmental.Let's face it, all special needs are stretching for the family. But, I wouldn't have it any other way. We see love, laughter, joy, excitement, fulfillment, growth, and many other things as we parent our boys with extra needs. It can be frustrating at times, it can be exhausting, it can be difficult, BUT, it is also truly a delight to watch them come out of their shell, to grow, to acquire new abilities, to accomplish tasks, to comprehend beyond what we thought they would understand, and to begin to truly understand what being a part of a family is all about.

In the past couple months, we have watched our little rag doll Isaac  blossom into a true, independent toddler. Exploring, learning, challenging, enjoying, and loving have all become words we use with him. He is truly becoming loving, truly accepting us, truly accepting his boundaries (ok, not ALL the time) and learning that he has a momma and daddy and siblings that will be here for him.

Isaiah has gained so much confidence, he has gained so much strength, body control, and tried so many new things, and loves it when he succeeds at something that 6 months ago he could not have done.

Our home is filled with lots of therapy type toys, tons of educational opportunities, and lots of daily learning happens, even in the midst of daily life.

I spend a lot of time trying to implement pt, ot and st (occupational, physical and speech therpay) into our day, but when you see success, and you see them come out of their shells, and you see the light come into their eyes, it is all worth the extra work and energy it takes to parent boys with special needs.

Blessings abound as we continue on this journey with special needs children.

Below are some pictures of a day in April when my mom came for a visit. She got a first hand experience of our "pre-school", as we played with stacking pegs and tubes and tents. Yes, it takes time, energy, and money to meet their needs and help them, but wow, what would we do without them?

Isaac shows Grandma how to stack (and throw) pegs

Isaiah and Tyler enjoy playing together too

Isaiah's eye-hand coordination is so much better, and the control he has for fine-motor skills has really improved

TA DA!!!

Our living room becomes a tent city when we give them time in their tunnels and ball tents! and they all love it

Thanks for stopping by for a tour of a day with 2 little boys with special needs!

Blessings

Chris