Blasts From The Past

I came across this photo when I was looking for the vacation photos. This was taken in Florida after Daddy sprayed whipped cream on their noses. When did they grow up??
And this is who started this whole crazy parenthood journey. This was taken in Maryland when I was pregnant with Cora.

And this is the first photo I received of my precious Adah - after agonizing days of waiting and checking email obsessively every twenty minutes of the day. She was only three at the time. My four daughters - I am so blessed!

Home Again Home Again

We're back. Obviously. And on the day we left to come home, I looked at Daniel tenderly and said, "Do we have to go back? Or maybe you could go back with the kids?" We enjoyed ourselves very much, and on Thursday afternoon, I told Daniel that although I obviously didn't want to cut our vacation short, I actually felt rested enough to return to the daily routine. I had just taken a nap in the hammock, so that had a lot to do with it.

Highlights of the trip:
- Jackson's birthday "week" as opposed to birthDAY; we had cinnamon rolls for breakfast one day, ice cream cones one evening, cake and ice cream another evening, milkshakes another evening (see a trend?), opened presents, had gingerale in wine glasses for them, and just generally celebrated all week the fact that Jackson turned four on the last day of vacation
- "Swimming" in the Cacapon River; only Daniel, Cora, and Adah actually got more than 30% of their bodies in the water, and I never actually got out of my cover-up, but we all had a good time playing around on the rocks hunting for snails and other cool stuff; Adah found a crawdad and was disgusted to learn that people actually eat them
- the Paw Paw Tunnel; this was a 3,110 foot tunnel DUG out of a mountain in the nearby town of Paw Paw for the C & O canal; there was a footpath next to the water canal (not very deep) that you can walk on to go through the tunnel; I won't lie - I was a little unnerved by the darkness and so was Roscoe :) Cora and Abigail led the way through the tunnel even without flashlights
- Dancing in the rain during a downpour and seeing all the kids' faces when they saw Mommy and Daddy come running out to join them
- Naps; that's all I have to say about that
- Renewing a Spite and Malice rivalry with Daniel that has lain dormant for lo these many years (it's a card game)
- Taking a night hike with chem lights where Daddy hid behind some trees and jumped out to scare the kids
- And if you ask the kids one of their favorite things, it will be: "Mommy and Daddy let us watch MOVIES!!" :)
A restful and relaxing time was had by all. It certainly wasn't fancy, but it was fun. We can't decide if it beats the beach or not, so we'll go to the beach next year to compare. Only not in September. :)

Jackson has obviously never seen the Spiderman movies, and he had also never seen the Spiderman cartoon (until this trip where he saw his first) and yet he's enamored of Spiderman. Daniel got him this outfit and he loves it.

A little known fact about Spidey - he's also handy with a rifle.

Spiderman takes cover to prepare for his shot. Perhaps his target is the poor little Bambi below? :) We saw lots of wildlife, including a fox one morning running through our yard.

All ready to go before our night walk. Playing in the Cacapon River, a tributary of the Potomac. See all those big rocks? Those big rocks that the kids could hit and then get a concussion? Yeah, my right eye was twitching a little watching them hop from rock to rock. It's all fun and games until someone pokes an eye out.

Adah's crawdad. She started yelling, "Cwab! Mommy! It's a cwab! It's a cwab?? Will it bite me?"

Walking to the Paw Paw Tunnel. We had such a gorgeous day! The Paw Paw Tunnel. See that light in between Adah's and Cora's heads? Yeah, it seems a lot closer than it actually is. It's a LONG way through. Nathaniel walked the whole way, including the .6 of a mile it took to get to the entrance. He had a good nap that day.

Random dinner shot with all the kids. They were happy with their wineglasses and wanted to show them off. Dancin' in the rain. Adah was holding on to me to warm up. Nathaniel lost his shorts at one point because he has no bum and the waterlogged pants were too heavy to stay up. Daniel held him up under the gutter for a shower and he laughed and laughed.On the way back home. This was called the "Panorama Outlook" where you can see four states. Don't ask me where the boundaries are.

Down in the valley was the town of Great Cacapon, which is chiefly known for being the home of Doris' Deli, I believe. We passed through Great Cacapon to get to the cabin.

Plan C

Well, what with all the hurricanes and tropical storms this year, a beach trip planned for September was really NOT a good idea. Also, counting on having a lifeguard on the beach on a military installation after Labor Day was not a good assumption. Thus we discarded Plan A for our vacation - a return to the Dam Neck Annex cottage on the beach where we went last year. Plan B involved extending a planned day trip to Williamsburg into a vacation in Williamsburg where we would see Yorktown and Jamestown as well. Ditto for the weather situation, plus we would need a vacation from the vacation. Plan C is a cabin in West Virginia. I think we're safer on higher ground. And Roscoe gets to go with us! We have river access, a hot tub, a hammock, a screened-in porch, and several acres. That sounds relaxing. We go on Monday, and I'm so looking forward to it. The kids are ready for a break after a rigorous seven weeks of school.

We start our vacation tonight with our homeschool co-op picnic. Cora has already made two friends after only one class at co-op (yep, that's our Cora) so she's looking forward to seeing them tonight. Along with games, a picnic, and fellowship, they're having a nature hike to identify trees, which I thought would be pretty interesting. Our first day of co-op was this past Tuesday, and it was a smashing success. Yes, I took a picture of the kids on the steps like the dorky mother I am, but I haven't downloaded it yet. The kids protested the dorkiness, but I did it anyway. Cora, Adah, and Abigail are taking P.E., Shiloh is taking a needlework class, and Jackson is taking a preschool class. Nathaniel is taking the "play on the playground" class. :)

At the same time that I'm rejoicing in the Lord's blessings to our family - we're happy, healthy, and safe, and we have the means to take a vacation, my heart is heavy over the situation in Haiti and the devastation there. I've been following accounts from missionaries there, and I can't help but think of Adah's birthdad and Nathaniel's birthmom. How are they doing? Do they have a safe place to go if the floods affect them? Will they be able to receive the pictures and updates I send down in December about how well the kids are doing? Here are some links I got from another friend's blog (thanks, Julie!) with some pictures of Haiti and the orphanage (creche) that served as our children's home for two years (over two years for Adah, 2 months less than two years for Nathaniel). This photographer traveled to take pictures to promote support for Hope for the Children of Haiti, the orphanage/school for the older kids that at one time shared a building with New Life Link, the creche for younger kids. We didn't take too many pictures out and about in Haiti both because we were shellshocked at what we saw and because we were so focused on the kids. These pictures give you an idea of what we saw when we went.

http://kristaphoto.blogspot.com/2008/08/haiti.html

http://kristaphoto.blogspot.com/2008/08/hfc-school.html

http://kristaphoto.blogspot.com/2008/08/hfc-life-at-pension.html

http://kristaphoto.blogspot.com/2008/08/hope-for-children-of-haiti-boys.html

http://kristaphoto.blogspot.com/2008/06/back-from-haiti.html

The last link shows the area where the creche is located (actually, they just moved the younger kids to a nicer location). We had to leave the truck we took, go through a heavy iron gate, and then walk down an alleyway like the one pictured to get to the creche. Adah remembers how hard it was to walk down because the rocks were so loose. She remembers the hallways pictured in the first link and having her hair done, and she remembers one of her teachers. She liked her very much. :) Our orphanage director was going to move the younger kids way up the mountain to the building next to the guesthouse (a VERY nice place where we stayed) but most of the nannies couldn't commute up there. It was a little more than an hour out of town. He wanted to keep the nannies with the kids for bonding purposes, so he moved them to another building he bought. In our American eyes, the orphanage looks horrible, but for Haiti, it's excellent care. They have three meals a day, they go to school, they have solid shelter, and they are clothed. But don't those babies' faces just tear your heart apart?? Phew.

Here is a Haitian prayer I also borrowed from a friend's blog (thanks, Ange! :)).
“Senye,
Si n’ap viv jodi a malgre
siklon, grangou, ak maladi,
nou dwe di,
Mesi Senye.
Nou genle la pou yon bi.”

“Lord,If we are alive today in spite of
hurricanes, hunger and sickness,
we should say, Thank you, Lord.
We must be here for a purpose.”

I'm also going to promote a book that we are planning to order for both Adah and Nathaniel as a way to honor their beautiful heritage. Buying the book supports the Livesays (http://www.livesayhaiti.blogspot.com/) in their ministry to the people of Haiti. Here's the link if you're interested:
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/283924/?utm_source=badge&utm_medium=banner&utm_content=140x240

Well, I think that's it for my scatterbrain right now. I've run out of time to run on the treadmill, so I need to get to the grocery store to pick up some stuff for our picnic dinner.

Love,
Casey