Maple Syrup Farm

The Sugar Bush (aka Maple Syrup Farm)

Grandpa shows the boys the lines that go from the tree to tree and eventually takes the sap to the holding tanks before turning it into syrup

Tasting the sweet watery sap that comes from the lines

Looks like a milk tank, but it actually holds the syrup

Cami takes a peek then poses for the picture

The "kitchen" where the cooking down of the sap takes place before it becomes the delicious syrup we put on our waffles and pancakes

A boy and his bug

While at Target today, Ian picked out a special lunch. We don't normally purchase Lunchables, however, because I had a coupon and they were on sale, I gave in to his request. He picked out the pizza pack (I vetoed the chicken nugget one). He was excited to make and eat his cheese pizzas for lunch! He was full after 2 and made a special one for his ladybug friend. I did not realize this until I was about to throw it away. He screamed with excitement, "Mommy, my ladybug friend is eating that" I was confused until I found the ladybug buried under a pile of cheese. I pushed the cheese aside and the ladybug walked around the pizza crust and "ate" the food. Ian was VERY proud to have shared his food with his friend. Who am I to argue with that???

Thank you for asking

I saw this posted on a friends blog recently. I wish we would have had this when we were first starting out in the adoption process and when we brought our first child home. People ask rude and often inconsiderate questions. I hope this is not because they are trying to be hurtful but because they are uneducated in adoption. I would never dream about asking someone about their delivery of their child or personal questions about conceiving, yet some people think it is ok to ask an adoptive parent person questions about their child's birth parents, background, etc. This is a great way for adoptive parents to politely respond to questions that go over the boundary lines.

Cards are found on Etsy.com at http://www.etsy.com/listing/70715591/thank-you-for-asking-card-set-with-card

"Thank You for Asking"
There are many ways to create or build a family. We have chosen to build our family through adoption. Thousands of children will be adopted into the U.S. this year. Our child is legally 100% ours, and just like a biological child, our love for him/her was born and grew from our hearts. This makes him/her our real, chosen, beloved son/daughter, for whom we would die and give our lives. He/she calls us mother and father. At times, you may see a family who has both adopted and biological children. It is important to know that these children are siblings, regardless of how they come into the family.

"A Child's Story"
Every child’s story is unique, whether or not there are adopted. Adopted children are not bought. The cost of their care in his/her native country, and why their first family was unable to care for him/her, is private. For an adopted child, this is their story to tell when they are adults, with the closest people in their lives. But, what I can tell you is that we are not special people because we have chosen to adopt this child. Rather, we are blessed to have been given this opportunity to parent this child. We are also thankful for family, friends, community, and the kindness of strangers to learn and educate themselves about adoption.

Past Posts

It has been a long time since I have posted. I have several posts that are in edit mode that I still either need to write on or upload pictures to. My days are filled with kids and driving to and from school, swim, gymnastics, etc. I love the chaos, but unfortunately, it leaves little time to catch up on other things. I hope to post more this weekend, but you will have to go into the history.

One exciting thing to add is that Justin and I are getting smart phones with Verizon. A friend gave us the opportunity to go onto their Verizon plan for a great discount, so we are finally moving off of the unreliable Sprint network and onto the Verizon network. I am looking forward to finally being able to answer the cell phone in my house. With Sprint, the call would either not come or it would be full of static or just drop. My number will remain the same, but the service will improve!

New Dishwasher

We found out some time ago that our dishwasher had been recalled. We did some research on which type of dishwasher we wanted. After many, many weeks, we decided to get a stainless steel GE Profile. The hunt was on to get the best deal. After price matching and negotiation paired with a $300 rebate, we were able to get a slightly better model than we planned on for less than half of the original price of the dishwasher. Ian was excited to help daddy with the installing of the new dishwasher. He happily pulled out tools to help daddy!

Chris Tomlin Concert

Ben and Wyatt clapping along. Cami is in the row behind them

For the last few months, Ben has been asking us if we could go to the Chris Tomlin concert. Since tickets were around $60 each, we had to say no. It would have been fun to buy them for an early birthday present, but reality is, we need to be smart with our money since we are hoping to save enough to go to Korea in a few years. With a family of 5, we need to start saving for that trip NOW. Yesterday Justin received an email from our pastor's wife, Lynn, stating that her sister won tickets and couldn't use them. If anyone was interested, the tickets were free. Free definitely fits in our budget, so he emailed her back and said that we would love the tickets. Since there are 4 tickets and 5 people in our family, Justin offered to stay home with Ian, who is currently fighting a lung infection and had visited Urgent Care last night for a chest Xray.

We brought Ben's friend, Wyatt, with us for the concert. Cami, Ben, Wyatt, and I headed to the Alliant Energy Center for the concert. I did not tell Ben until we were about to pull into the parking lot for the concert that we were going to see Chris Tomlin. He just knew that we were going to go somewhere awesome! To say he was surprised and excited is an understatement!

Ian's Birthday Weekend

My baby is 4 years old. The time has flown the last 3+ years. We remember the woman who gave him life. We are extremely thankful for his selflessness of placing her child. We pray that she has the comfort of knowing that her child is loved and cherished.

Grandma Sandy, Grandpa Neil, Uncle Joe, Aunt Keri, and Natalie came to celebrate with us. Uncle Mike was even in town for work, so he was able to come and celebrate with us. Upon Ian's request, we went to Red Robin for dinner to enjoy some burgers and french fries.

After dinner, we headed home for dessert. Ian requested Grandma to make him a fire truck, dinosaur, airplane, choo choo birthday cake. As always, Grandma exceeded expectations and made an amazing cake! Ian was a VERY happy boy!