A year of Growth

First Day of Kindergarten

Last Day of Kindergarten

First Day of 4th Grade

Last Day of 4th Grade

First Day of 6th Grade

Last Day of 6th Grade

Dreadlock Update

MARCH 2013

In March we started Dreadlocks in Naomi's hair and I wanted to post an update and show you how much they have grown!

JUNE 2013

We have been very happy with the dreadlocks.  I tried a new product in her hair when I did her last re twisting.

Before I was using a gel based product and this is beeswax.  It was very creamy and made her hair look so shiny and healthy.  You may wonder why it is black...well that way it is not visible in her hair, it blends right in.  If you want to know more about Black Beeswax just click on the link!

Lord Hill Park Hike

Since Darrick and I have been making steps toward healthier living we decided to set up some "rewards" for ourselves to keep us motivated and build our relationships as a family.

This week our reward was a family hike.  We went to Snohomish to a place called Lord Hill Park.  We hiked for about 2 hours.  The weather was great and we had fun together.  Jacob was helping me take some pictures by pointing out things I should take pictures of!

Ready to Start!

Start of the Trail

Micah and Darrick trying to figure out which way to go

Kindergarten Trip to the Zoo

Last week I was able to go on Naomi's class field trip to the Woodland Park Zoo.  They assigned two parents with a group of 4 children.  Here are a few pictures from the day!

Riding the Bus!

Our Group

Watching the Penguins

Check out the size of that Boa Constrictor!

Who's watching who?

Such a fun day!

Projects

I love to work on projects, when I get the time, which isn't always a lot!  Here is what I have been working on!

After the boys saw the pillows I made for Naomi's room, they asked me to make them each a pillow too.  Micah found some fabric one day when we were at the craft store so I made his.  Jacob is still searching!

We have had this bird cage picture holder in our kitchen for a few months.  It came with clothespins to hang up the pictures.  I knew I wanted to add glitter to them to give them some sparkle!

We also have another picture holder on our kitchen that was originally white but since it sits on a white window sill with a white curtain it was getting lost.  So I gave it a pop of color with some spray paint.

I added glitter to this frame just to liven it up! 

Bike Trade

We have a great Shop and Organization here in Everett called Sharing Wheels.  You can read all about it if you click on the link.

Last Sunday they held their event called the Bike Trade.  The basic idea is that you bring your child's used bike that they have grown too big for to the shop.  They asses it and give it a value.  Then you look around the shop and bike out a "new to you" bike.  If the value of the new bike is equal to your old bike-it is a clean swap.  In the end we ended up paying only $10!  The kids really liked it and it was fun to see one of our friends pick Jacob's old bike!

Sorticulture

Last weekend, Everett had Sorticulture.  This is our 3rd year attending and if you enjoy gardening then Sorticulture is the place to be.  It is held at Legion Memorial Park and starts on a Friday and goes through Sunday.

We chose this year to go on Friday after the kids got out of school.  The main attraction are all the vendor booths filled to the brim with all things outdoor and garden.  You can find just about anything you would like.  Every year we have found one unique thing for our garden or our house and this year was no different.

We have a big plate glass window in our living room that I thought would look great with some type of glass art in it.  I didn't know exactly which type I wanted but have been hoping that when I see one I would know it.  Well at Sorticulture I found it!

It is a beautiful glass flower and looks so great in the window!

We always stop at the Lopez Island Creamery Booth and get a delicious scoop of ice cream.  We also like hearing the music and listening to the speakers.  We spent a few hours and had a great time!  When Sorticulture comes around we know that summer is not far behind!

Last Visit

On Thursday we had our last home study visit with our social worker!  First we went over 2 forms we still need to fill out, and we need to find and make a copy of Naomi's adoption decree. We have our CPR refresher course scheduled and our last set of fingerprints are going to be done this Thursday.  She said all our referral letters came in (and they were great).

We need to make an 8.5x11 collage of pictures of our family to be presented with our home study to social workers.  We also need to come up with a list of 10 things that we would want to know about a child and we need to help the kids come up with a list of 10 things that they would want to know about a potential sibling.  We really appreciate how well our social worker has been including our kids in this process. 

Then it was time for our final home inspection.  The only thing that we did not have was the proper weight of fire extinguisher.  We had a 2.5 lb and we need a 5 lb.  On our initial walk through inspection she gave us two things that we needed to do. 

One was that we needed a curtain to hang to give Naomi's room privacy.  I guess her room upstairs is more of a loft area then an actual bedroom because she has a doorway but no door.  I wanted to try my hand at making a curtain now that I have my sewing machine.  It was pretty easy, just straight lines and I loved how it turned out.  I did not use a pattern, I just made it up.

The second thing that we needed to do was to put  locks on the attic doors that are in Naomi's room.  The locks are to prevent a child from opening the doors and getting in the attic crawl space.  We have never had any of the kids even try to do that but things are pretty strict when you are dealing with adopting a child.

The next step is for our social worker to write our home study and then it needs to be approved.  Every Thursday our social worker attends a meeting with lots of other social workers, they are located in a different county each time, where they are presented with profiles of children who need to be adopted.  She told us that she is going to actively start searching for us!  We can hardly contain our excitement.