Eli's Word of the Day

Eli has added a new word to his vocabulary. This a.m. Mike walked by the boys' room and checked to see that they were up and moving. Not only were they awake but dressed and playing.

Mike told Eli he looked dapper. His response, "What this dapper?" Mike told him nice, looks good, handsome. You have to give 3 descriptions for a word - it's their unwritten rule. Eli pondered this new word. His judgment, "Dapper......good word.....I like it!" Of course he does, any word saying he's looking fine goes into the keeper pile.

Dad I Want a Jesus Beard

Eli announced this at suppertime. He does not simply want a beard like Mike's. He apparently wants a full beard that is very, very long and I believe he's determined it should be white. If he can't have the white he will take a beard like Jesus had.

Don't ponder too long on this whole grooming decision, you will just have a headache trying to fit yourself inside a 9 year old boys' mind. Last week he wanted to be bald.

Costumes and Overload

Last night Mike and I must have had some sort of simultaneous masochistic fit. We took the boys Halloween costume shopping, in Omaha on the Wednesday before Halloween - and to top it off we arrived right along with a hundred other misguided parents and there overwrought children.

I knew when Eli's eyes bugged out and rolled around in the sockets that the over stimulation was over the top. Normally this store would have been avoided like the plague but none of my costume ideas met with their approval so in we went to a Halloween nightmare.

Wall to wall people, volume on high and the final nail in the coffin.....I made them try on the costume.....they weren't cheap and there are no returns, I'm cheap....enough said.

The laughter occurred as we were checking out and the cashier asked if the boys were twins, before I could say anything, Lucas whipped around, totally affronted and said, "we not TWINS, we BROTHERS!" Well.....ok......we left and went directly to eat. Low blood sugar was not our shopping friend.

Late Night Brings Extra Hugs

Anyone who works in a school system probably knows that parent-teacher conference nights mean overtime and later nights arriving home dog tired. (Yes - school secretaries do work their fannies off!).

This week we have two back to back nights of this wonderful experience, so Mike and the kids are on their own for supper and the evening.

It was nice last night when I finally dragged myself through the door to be greeted by Eli and Lucas running down the hall (a little scary cause they were in full out tackle mode) screaming, "Mom, you came home, long day at work - you tired?" and then began the rundown of their day spanning 60 seconds, of tag-team, non-stop, high volume boy speak. Then I was led to the couch and with each one under an arm they asked how my day was....and guess what? they actually listened and asked questions. Nice way to end a day where all I did was have people talk at me.

Again, I'm reminded of the little guys who came home a year ago who really didn't like to be cuddled and were very self reliant/self oriented, they don't exist so much anymore, I wonder what a year from now will bring.

How Many Times Can You Reschedule?

Well if you are our local court system and you are finalizing adoptions you can reschedule how many times and whenever you want.

We found out Friday that our finalization that was to occur today is now scheduled for next Monday, November 1.

Hopefully the 3rd time is the charm. After explaining and re-explaining to the boys, I'm not saying anything until Monday a.m. just in case, they are still asking if they have to have injections from the judge. Nope but I will need a tranquilizer if this on again, off again keeps going.

Something Eli Won't Ever Eat!

I've written previously about our meal time conversations and the fact that since the testosterone level has increased so has the gross table conversations. The girls and I try to curb this as much as possible (Mike I think just enjoys it).

Don't ask how (I never can quite figure it out) or why this subject came up. For some reason Lucas began talking to Mike about a "new, wonderful mouse trap" (humane) he saw advertised on tv and how it worked.

Mike being the farm boy from way back, began to explain that the old fashioned, tried and true, squish and gore trap works just fine. I tried, I really did, to stop this descriptive conversation, the girls were turning green and the spaghetti wasn't looking so good anymore. So, using my mom voice, I said, "Eating!"

I looked over to see Eli, with a fork full of spaghetti half way to his mouth, bug his eyes out, drop his mouth open and with the absolute most appalled voice ever say, "WHAT! EAT MICE!" Then he dropped the fork and began examining the spaghetti sauce. Good thing there wasn't meat in it or I'm not sure what would have happened. It took some convincing but finally Rachel had him assured we only eat beef, pork and chicken. He then appalled us by saying, "we eat cat too, it's ok." Not in this lifetime...not with this cook.

Little Brothers May Be Handy....

especially when an older sister gets hurt at school. That was Sydney's realization after she was injured during a pep rally dance Friday afternoon. I don't mean to embarrass her further (let's face it she biffed it in front of the whole school) she took a spill when the group entered the rally. Luckily she was inside a bag and no one knew for sure, at the time, who it was. A few discerning ones probably wondered about her limping and hopping later on.

Needless to say she couldn't drive herself or the boys home, our wonderful neighbor, who happens to work at school, drove them home (I wonder when it would have occurred for them to call me?) She informs me, "Mom it didn't hurt at first, I couldn't feel my leg!"

When I came in from work, Lucas had taken pretty good care of her - which translates - he didn't leave her in the middle of the driveway. She even complemented him that he helped her get her leg propped up and iced. I haven't discovered what Eli was doing during this time probably checking her room out to see how his stuff would look in it. Have I mentioned they are sometimes a little mercenary?

Sydney appreciated the help but I'm pretty sure she will crawl down the stairs to protect her territory. She may be down but crutches can help influence the territorial boundaries!

Laryngitis Anyone?

On this coming Monday we will be going to court for our adoption finalization. I was digging through the boys' church clothes to see what would be appropriate....wouldn't you know it....the last growth spurt put the dress pants over their ankles and dress shirts half way to their elbows. We decided we'd buy them their first suits (before I hear everyone groan, "what little boy wants to wear a suit!") they love to dress up and look good...no, really!

I just couldn't get real enthused to drag them into a department store to try them on. So after a couple of attempts, the suits, shirts and ties are bought and pressed, ready to be put on Monday.

We've been talking about what this means, what a judge is, what court is, where it is, who will be there....again the billion questions and answers. I came home to this question today, "Mom! Judge give me injection?" Ummmm - I don't have a clue where that one came from. Lord only knows what they may ask the judge. Is it wrong to hope for dual laryngitis?

We'll be sure to post suit and hearing pictures after the big day.

Thank You For Teaching Me

This is what Lucas said to me tonight. What was I teaching him? Not his spelling and vocabulary words, not his science. We weren't working on English words or reading a book.
We were putting laundry away. I'd spent a lot of time cleaning out dresser drawers these past few days. I'd gotten the boys' clothes separated into their individual drawers (for what seems like the hundredth time). I showed them which drawers are theirs, where the shirts go, where the jeans go, etc.

Ok, ok I fully admit to being a little compulsive but in my defense they love to choose their clothes and when they can't find them it just leads to very loud routine and yes it does give me a headache by 8:30 at night.....so thus the OCD dressers.

As Lucas was leaving the bedroom after our little drawer etiquette lesson, he stopped and turned around and gave me a hug and said, "Thank you for teaching me." So I will continue my slightly obsessive orderliness and maybe someday a daughter in law will appreciate the effort too, I know I didn't have a headache after choosing clothes and my heart was a little lighter.

A Good Meter of Progress

This past several days I've been decluttering the boys' room. Throwing out broken toys, cleaning up after messes I'm quite sure I don't want to know their origins and generally getting ready for the winter months of inside confinement (yuck!)


One of the things I was cleaning out was their book shelves. I threw out colored up, torn up color books, old magazines they were done with, etc.


In the sorting I came to realize a lot of their books were given to or bought before the boys' came home last year. I started stacking the books that they've outgrown. They tell me that they are baby books or are too easy (which I made them prove to me). Some were basic books with pictures and words that helped them name everyday objects.


When all was done and sorted, I was amazed and pleased to see how many they've gone through. I was also amused at which of the "baby" books made it back onto their bookshelf. Anything containing tractors, super heroes or animals. Sometimes progress is hard to measure day to day but this "clean up" helped to show us how far we have indeed come.

The Boy Has To Learn

Eli just needs some wisdom. Not the academic kind (he's getting more excited to learn new things everyday) not the social kind (he seems to make friends easily) he needs wisdom to survive his sisters.....especially Rachel.

He's comfortable with Rachel, it's probably why he feels so free to say whatever comes into his head to her. Unfortunately he either needs a mute button or a discretionary pause meter. I'm am ever so grateful that she is extremely patient and loves kids (thus being an elementary ed major) because I'm pretty sure most other 19 year old girls would introduce Master Eli to the wrath that is a teenage girl.

This past week-end, at lunch, Eli is eating away (not much interrupts this process....which come to think of it probably gives him thinking time to come up with his sisterly sass) he looks over at Rachel, nods his head wisely (you judge if that was true) and says, "Rachel, where your boyfriend?" She said, "I don't have one." "Yes, you do, where he at?" He knew exactly what he was doing, the grin was a give away.....you see when the boys first came home she was dating someone, they parted ways at the beginning of the year. She probably didn't appreciate the reminder. He didn't take the hint. Finally she said, "I don't know Eli, where is your girlfriend?" He just grins, shoes her away with his hand and says, "school". Ummm now I'm concerned.

Lucas' View on Football Victory

We live in Iowa. A lot of our family are University of Iowa fans. Not just fly by night, when the going is good fans but die hard, sit in the rain, travel 8 hours for home game fans. Lucas and Eli were given Iowa shirts by my sister when they arrived home last year. Now while they are stilling learning what the game is all about, they know the mascot (by sight apparently) for the university.

I was cooking supper this week-end when Lucas ran into the kitchen to excitedly tell me, "The yellow bird won!" I, being the "non sports mom" took a little bit to understand that he was talking about Iowa Hawkeyes winning. At least he didn't think Big Bird played football.

Don't Call Your Sister a Moose

What can anyone say. Eli called his sister a moose. Not that he knows what a moose is but it was in a story that he has memorized from school.

His memorization skills are amazing....his discretion and discernment need some help.

He was reciting the story where an animal is confused and thinks all these other animals may be a moose. Each animal answers, I'm not a moose, I am a (fill in blank).

At the end of his story, he looks over at Rachel and says, "Rachel, you a weird looking moose!" He was oh so hilariously pleased with himself. I think he is very lucky that his sister has a sense of humor and likes him.

A New Found Marvel

It goes by the name of Hy-Vee. Lucas went clothes and grocery shopping with Mike and I today. Without his brother. Eli got to stay home with Rachel and Sydney (he helped them dye Sydneys' hair - she's lucky she has any left and he's probably lucky they didn't decide he should have red hair.)

After surviving Red Lobster, Sam's Club and Target we headed for the last of our needed groceries at Hy-Vee. I learned a very valuable $ lesson early on - the boys (and Mike) don't usually go to the grocery store with me. Too much over stimulation for the boys, too much temptation for Mike.

As we are walking into the store, Lucas is on his usual 10,000th question when he stops in the doorway and asks what we are buying here. I said groceries, food. His mouth dropped open and he asks, "We don't have any food at home?" The look alone gave me the clue that this concept of no food had really struck a nerve. I told him we do have food at home but we have to come to the grocery store to replace what we eat.

We had stopped taking the boys to the grocery store when it was a complete and total melt down from too many choices, too much noise and too many explanations. This time with being able to take Lucas one on one it went much better. But he honestly had no clue that since he's been home, where our food came from. It was just there, in someways probably like the orphanage. He never saw the purchasing side of groceries or where that food came from.

Several good things happened from the trip, he didn't complain all the way through the store, he helped carry groceries inside without complaint and wanted to be sure that we got them put away. Hy-Vee changed his view of the food chain.....can't imagine what he'd think if I had the energy to put in a garden.....he'd probably think I was making him eat dirt.

Definition for Scared

After a week of Lucas using the word scared in his conversations with me, I may finally understand what he is trying to say.

He's told me he's scared in the lunch line, scared at recess, scared at a restaurant, scared to talk fast in English. The first couple things involved school, so the paranoid mom in me thought we may have a bully issue. Then the scared at the restaurant threw me as it was not a new place to him. Then he was talking last night about English being scary.

I've tried to get more information on why he would be scared or afraid - I always got a look like, "what are you talking about?" He would usually tell me, "no, scared."

For whatever reason it finally came to me that he doesn't mean scared or scary, he means confused but didn't have that word in his vocabulary. When I asked if scary meant he doesn't understand what to do, he said, "Yes! Scared." I asked if he felt scared when he doesn't understand something and again I received the "my mom is ridiculous look" and he said, "me not afraid, me have to learn more! Obviously I'm the one who needs to brush up on all the possible meanings to English words and then place them into a 10 year old boys' thesaurus.

Tickle Fight

I just want it known that I REALLY don't like to be tickled. The boys don't like to be restricted in their movement, it can send them into a freak out fast. Needless to say we've respected this "no tickle guideline" for the past 11 months.

Unfortunately for me, hilarious for them last night they breached the rule. Sitting quietly on the couch after supper, I see Lucas on my left and Eli sidling up to my right and the next thing I know is I have two boys on top of me squealing like little girls and tickling me crazy. Oh did I mention I'm just the tiniest bit claustrophobic? Trying to hold me down is not a wise choice.

Yep pretty sure I impressed them in my ability to extract myself from the bottom of the pile and then impress upon them that Mom will tickle back and does have the ability to sit on both of them at one time. Yep....I did it.....nope I'm not feeling bad at all.

With Knowledge Comes......

a greater understanding of what the boys have been thinking about this past year. Their language development continues to progress in fits and starts but something we've noticed, particularly this past week, is that the words they are choosing in conversation are getting more complex.

There are questions that they have begun asking recently about a whole realm of things that have occurred in the past year. Why, how, who, relationships, fears, jokes, etc.

I have to say that this is probably one of the positive things that older child adoption carries with it especially since they had almost non-existent English a year ago. Now we are able to fill in the missing information for them as well as have our questions answered for what was going through their heads this past year. I'm sure this will eventually lead to filling in the questions of their life in the Philippines of which we have very few answers.

For everyone who has "survived" my constant use of a camera. We go back and look at those pictures, the boys remember each of the situations but ask questions outside the frame of the shot. They are filling in the missing pieces, much in the same way they fill in their missing English knowledge.

Sitting around in the evening after supper, showers and study time, I'm amazed at what or better yet how they are learning to pose questions and speak in English. Sometimes when we are modeling correct English, in what seems to be every other sentence, we frequently feel, "are we making any progress." And then we find ourselves in the middle of a fairly complex conversation with one or the other of the boys and it's the wake up moment that says, yes the work (theirs and ours) is taking hold.

Sometimes its hard to see the forest for the trees or in this case to hear the accomplishments they have achieved. The forest of their knowledge is growing and for anyone who may think they speak with a heavy accent or aren't able to understand the occasional word, I say look back to a year ago, when Lucas and Eli couldn't understand any of us at all and you could understand only 1 in 10 of their English words. Miracle Grow has nothing on Lucas and Eli.

Fire Proof

This past week was National Fire Prevention Week. The local volunteer fire departments came to the elementary schools and taught the kids about fire prevention and escape.

Tonight at supper we were "educated" in the proper procedures and techniques from Lucas and Eli. As I'm sitting there listening to everything they learned I'm amazed at how much of it they understood and could repeat back. From going under smoke; stop, drop, roll; feeling doors for heat; covering their mouth; to go out an outside door if it is clear; to wait for the firemen outside and not go back in the house; to how to break a window safely to get out. Now I have to admit that last one gave me some concern.

The topper to the discussion was Lucas looking at me (again as if I must surely be limited in my brain functions) and saying, "Mom, you know this? I show you. You not know." I most surely do not know how Mike and I have been able to survive without the boys' expertise in life issues :)

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October 2010

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Mom. I Have Friends

The boys take baby steps some days towards settling into their new lives. Yes. It has almost been a year since they came home but the settling in doesn't stop.

Most times we see two kids who are always on the move, energetic and wanting to know what comes next. Then there are the days when you see glimpses of their past experiences and the things that have been on their minds.

Tonight after the boys got home, Eli came running in and told me to close my eyes, he had a surprise. Ok we've done this every night this week. Class pictures came home and he's been exchanging pictures with the other kids in his class. Yep, he had a couple more tonight.

I looked at each one (had to shut my eyes each time while he pulled another picture from his pocket). Then he held each piece of his collection in his had and looked up and said, "Mom. I have friends here." Well, poo. Yep buddy you do. Another step.

Sugar is NOT Good!

News flash for all those parents out there. Sugar is eating the minds of our kids. If anyone would like to have a first hand experience, I have one little 9 year old Filipino boy that is living proof that sugar is a mind altering drug.

Lucas and Eli go to an after school church program on Wednesday afternoon. They love going, have a million stories about the sponsors and what they do there. They also love to have snacks while there. Unfortunately for those of us who live through the next few hours after the program ends, we have the divine pleasure of Eli hyped up from those "wonderful" treats.

He cannot handle sugar or caffeine. We've gotten a good handle on the whole caffeine thing but sugar is harder to control. I've never seen a kids' behavior so very obviously affected by it before. He speaks 90 miles and hour, can't sit still and the most amazing thing is he will stand there and tell you, "I'm very, very tired! I'm very, very fast, I no slow down!" I think I'm sending his snack with him next week.....I'm sure that will go over big...not. But it is closing in on 7:30 and they've been home since 4:30 and he is now taking a very, very fast shower. Wonder if he'll sleep very, very fast.

Dualing Spelling Words

Spelling words are a big thing around our house. At the beginning of the school year....not so much. The first couple word lists pretty much kicked Lucas and Eli to the curb. With some tweaking from their teachers they now are very into learning the new words each week.

Unfortunately (fortunately - depends on which side of the screaming you are on) the competitive spirit rules in this arena too. There aren't any sports the boys are participating in right now so they've developed the dueling spelling words competition.

Lucas, being the "older, wiser brother", takes great joy in letting Eli know he already knows all of Eli's words. Eli who has all of the sudden developed into this spelling machine, takes great offense to this. The words on his list are his and his alone....no one else on the planet may spell these words.

Mike and I have to find very separate places to practice with each of them, as we have Lucas screaming the spelling words off of Eli's list before Eli has a shot. I never thought spelling words could be a full contact sport but maybe the education field has missed a prime opportunity to advance boys' educational performance by not encouraging this new sport. For me....I'll just be glad when basketball starts.

Sometimes Not Understanding Is Easier

I know most of you won't be surprised to read that kids can be mean little critters.

We've been lucky up until now that Lucas and Eli haven't been teased, taunted or made to feel out of place at school and in the community. The times that we've run into an issue or they've repeated something that was said or that happened to them that was in all likelihood, mean spirited, they have not understood what was driving the other persons' behavior.

Lucas recently figured out that Pickle is a funny last name and that it's a food. He thought it was funny, we explained (as best we could) that yes it is funny and that sometimes people like to make jokes and tease us about it. Not just him but his sisters too. We also tried explaining that when this happens if he laughs with them that is the fastest way to make them stop. It was a hard thing to get our girls to understand when they were elementary age and a whole lot harder to explain to Lucas.

Tonight he was showing me a picture of a friend that he had received at school. He asked if he could take one of his to give. I said ok and told him to write his name no the back. He said, "Just Lucas, no Pickle, I not like to be food." Ummmm, ok, didn't take mommy college to figure that one out. I asked if someone was making fun of his name. He said a "big boy" calls him food and he doesn't like it. It is hard to explain that no reaction takes away a mean kids' fun. It's an explanation in progress because no matter what language you use, kids can be mean little buggers.

Mom! Look!

Coming in the door late this afternoon, those are the words that were hollered at me from the living room. I have to admit to a little trepidation as I've come to learn with Lucas and Eli that the "LOOK" statement could very well involve something slimy, wiggly, dead or alive. Let's just say I'm not too brave when enthusiastically replying, "What is it?"

Today was a good "Look it". Lucas had his spelling test out and was waiting on the couch to show his 100% to me. Sydney said he'd been waiting to show it to me since she picked them up from the elementary.

Definitely worth celebrating so we are going out to eat supper at his favorite place.

Morning Sniffles

I'm not a morning person but I'm really starting to enjoy them. Especially the week-end ones when I'm awakened, not by an alarm, but by a finger poking me in the arm and the boys saying, "Good Morning Mom! - You sleeping?".....not that's not the good part. The good part comes when I don't have to head out the door for work and I get to start the day with everyone.

This morning I ended up with both boys sitting beside me on the couch talking. I had my head turned talking with Lucas when I hear, "sniff, sniff, sniff".....I turn to Eli and he has his nose glued to my arm sniffing. Then I hear the same thing coming from Lucas' side, again, "sniff, sniff".

What can I say they smell everything. It's their guide post as to good and bad. We hear a lot of, "stinky good" and "stinky bad". So I waited, Eli grabs me around the neck and Lucas hugs from the other side and he says, "Mom you smell good!" I said, "Thanks - I don't stinky good?" Lucas says, "No! Mom! You smell good!" A very special way to start my day.

What! You Drink It!

Saturday morning brings with it the "guys" cooking breakfast. As for the girls of the family - we don't eat breakfast so it's up to Mike, Lucas and Eli to fend for themselves. It also gives Lucas and Eli a chance to cook - who knew it was a marvelous game?
This a.m. it was pancakes and eggs. The eggs of course had to be cooked hard. How do I know this as a non-participant? It was screamed every 10 seconds while they were cooking. When breakfast was finally on the table, Sydney and I took our coffee and juice and sat down with them. Lucas, very firmly in big brother mode, was helping Eli to pour syrup on his pancakes. This was much appreciated as Eli's version would consist more of sticking the pancake in the syrup bottle and guzzling it straight.

On the 3rd and 4th pancake, Lucas poured syrup for Eli on one pancake and left the other dry so it didn't soak up before Eli was ready to eat it. Eli being firmly in his little brother mode, stacks the dry pancake onto of the syrupy one while Lucas wasn't watching. Eli then asks him for more syrup. Lucas looked at Eli's plate, didn't figure it out too fast and with much shock looks at Eli and says ~ "What! You drink it!" Eli just smiled, Lucas disgustedly put more syrup on and said - NO MORE! ......and so begins our week-end.

Chef Lucas

I think Lucas is probably our chef in training. Every night it is a battle to get him back from the stove in order to get supper cooked. He always has to see what is on the stove and how all the ingredients go in and how you stir and turn and what temperature it is cooked at....don't even get us started on baking.

Tonight the family had stir fry and I think I experienced a nervous breakdown. Stir frying vegetables while dodging a 10 year old who now stands shoulder high to me and trying to keep everyone from getting burned is not fun.

I think I'm looking for a kid's cookbook this week-end....my luck it will have a recipe for baked Alaska......doesn't that have bourbon in it? :)

Mom! It is Dark!

Before I leave for work in the morning I usually wake the boys up to get them started around for school and Mike finishes the job.

You can definitely tell we are moving into fall as it is really dark when I leave the house. This morning I went into the boys room and opened the curtains and told them good morning.

Lucas must have sat right up and looked out the window, before I could turn on the light I hear him disgustedly say, "Mom! It is dark! Night time, me still sleep." Then he flopped back under the covers. It amazes me that even though they are still developing English both Lucas and Eli can put so much expression behind the words they do use that a person has no trouble telling their true feelings. Lucas very succinctly told me I couldn't tell time, I was crazy to think it was morning and even crazier to think he was getting out of bed when it was clearly dark outside.

Had to laugh as I headed out and wished Mike good luck......thanks dear!

Why Didn't Someone Warn Me!

Why didn't someone warn me that boys have the most disgusting conversations known to man? Okay, Okay....people did. But come on!

Why is it that these grossed out conversations always occur at supper? How do they materialize out of a seemingly normal, non-disgusting conversation? Why do every male (sons and father) look totally amazed when the females say, "ENOUGH!"

A conversation that started out about chores and the boys taking trash outside evolved into chores Lucas did in the orphanage. The short version...he helped take baby diapers to the trash, then we progressed to "oo oo" then we went into a digestive lesson and shall we say information on 3rd world intestinal issues. At this point Sydney left for play practice (I think she abandoned me to the heathen males in our family) so what would any supportive mother and wife do? Well I did what any higher thinking female would do when confronted with the unfortunate, misguided males in the tribe....I left the table...they are now cleaning up from supper.

Denial

Lucas is the master craftsman of denial. This past week our weather has gotten definitively fall like with the temperatures to prove it.

The boys like to take whatever remnants of breakfast that are left over and go outside, sit on the patio and eat them. They love to eat outside. Works great in the summer not so much when you wake up and the temperature is hovering at 45 degrees.

I could hear Eli outside talking with the dogs I look out to see him in a sweatshirt, sweat socks and.....shorts. I see Lucas sitting there in shorts.....nothing else. Ok, I think to myself.....do I let them figure it out themselves or because we've been doctoring sore throats and colds all week, haul their kiesters in for warmer clothes. Because I hate giving medicine as much as they hate taking it, I opted to interrupt their polar bear imitations and tell them to get more clothes on.

Eli, who doesn't like the cold looks at his shaking knees and decides, "oh! maybe mom's right." Lucas turns to me with breakfast in hand, shaking and blue around the lips to say, "I not cold, I ok." Ummmm....don't think so. Sweat pants, socks and sweatshirt later he still insists because the sun is out he's not cold.

Eli's Epiphanies

Eli definitely has the ability to keep us in stitches. Sometimes he understands what he's saying is funny which makes it even better.

Tonight at supper as he's forcibly eating (yes it is possible to force feed yourself) peas and Alison is sitting beside him teasing him (truly a brother/sister relationship has evolved) poking him in the arm he puts his spoon down, with a very exasperated smack, looks at Alison and says, "stop touching me!" then he looks at me and says, "Mom! Girls. They always touching me." I said, "Ok, do we need to have them stop?" His reply, "no, me like them". Confused yet? I was.

Then as we are finishing supper I was putting the cap back on the salad dressing. Eli sits directly across from me and I guess there was condensation on the bottle that splattered on him. In the most appalled 9 year old voice you can imagine, he shouts, "Mom! You SPIT on me!" That took a lot of convincing to make him believe that I did not spit on him. It's a wonder the kid ever makes it through a meal.

Where Did All The Water Go?

People have begun asking if the boys realize that summer weather is over and winter cold is fast approaching. My answer, "they are in heavy denial and have seasonal amnesia."

The pools closing for the season was quite the tragedy. Luckily our town pool is off the beaten path of what we normally take when traveling into town. Unfortunately the town closest to us has their pool located right next to the main highway and we pass it frequently.

The boys thought that because the other town's pool still had water in it that they could swim there instead of our town's bone dry one. Well this week-end on our way past this "marvelous" pool, I hear Lucas holler, "MOM! The water is gone, where did it go, who took it?"

I tried to explain what draining a pool was about but that was only followed by a very disgruntled, muttered, "it broke." We had a moment of silence for the end of summer.

Older Than Dirt

This past Saturday we spent a lot of time (7 hours) traveling to and from a family birthday party in Nebraska.

On this trip we noted several things about the boys and their tolerance of car travel. Minimal use of Dramamine (hated having to use it but the alternative wasn't pleasant) and perhaps it's that they are now awake to notice the scenery and ask questions, either way this is Lucas' reaction to a roadside attraction.

We were on our way home about 2 hours to go, traveling down the interstate in Nebraska, not a whole lot to look at except crops, road construction and more road construction. We've traveled this road a lot but never seen this particular statue of a dinosaur. I have to say it's very realistic.

Lucas starts in with the billion questions, beginning with, Are there dinosaurs here, where are they, why did they die, where are they, when did they die, where are they and can he see one......then he ended with, "Mom! When you little did you see dinosaurs?" Sydney and Mike thought it was hilarious, my view is Mike is older than me, why was he laughing?

What Do Monsters Eat?

Let me start by saying that this post was put together by Sydney, who was waiting for me at the door after work today. A little cover story to what is written: Lucas brought a reading book home last night called, "What Do Monsters Eat". In the story a little girl discovers all the things a pet monster might eat...including pickles. For those reading and wondering, Pickle is our last name. Neither of the boys have ever understood that it is a funny name....until today...here's Sydney's story:

"What Do Monsters Eat?"

That is the very question Lucas posed to me after we reached home today from school. At first I thought he may seriously want to know, then decided not. Perhaps it was a joke he heard today at school? “I don’t know, what do they eat,” I responded. “I don’t know.” Lucas replied. Um…okay? I looked at him and he said, “I read book today…What Do Monsters Eat.” I replied, “Oh?” In turn he gave me a look, “They eat apples, pickles, and potatoes!” I quickly jumped up and said, “PICKLES?! THEN WE BETTER HIDE! WE’RE PICKLES!” He looked and me for a second then laughed for a good measure of time, not because of how crazy his sister can act, but for the fact that it finally dawned on him that our last name is, in fact, a food. Don’t you just love those moments when everything clicks?

We later tried to explain the "funny name" to Eli, I guess he's not ready yet, he still thinks we're crazy.

Mom Before and Mom Now

We go through phases where Lucas gets into deep thinking mode. Usually you know this is happening as he scowls and gets really quiet. This can last and hour or sometimes a day. It does no good to ask him what he's thinking about as he tells you in his own time, after he's run it through his mind enough to be comfortable to talk.

This latest thought provoking period lasted about an hour. His conclusion, "my mom before left me in Philippines when I got old, then you - mom now - come to get me in Philippines. Lots of kids moms leave them in Philippines and new moms come then. And Daddy come and Sydney come to get Eli and me."

He then turns to Rachel who happened to be home this week-end and wasn't able to make the trip to the Philippines and says, "Rachel! You no come get me, where you at?" We explained her starting college and that not all of us could come.

He seems to be rehashing the period of when we first met and when we arrived home. Last week we had an indepth discussion on who was all at the airport when we arrived back home. He asked to see the pictures of the welcome home at the airport and then systematically noted everyone who was not there and wanted to know where they were.

Later on I asked him if it was okay for me to be his mom now. He said, "yes, me no like it when mother left me before, you come get me and you my mom now. You no leave me in Philippines, I live here in my house."

Baggage travels a long way and it sure does get heavy when you're 10 years old and carrying all that weight.

The Book of Eli

The book of Eli (Pickle version) has a new chapter as dictated by his brother, Lucas.

During Sunday dinner, Lucas started reminiscing about the Philippines and things that he and Eli used to do. After torturing Sydney and Rachel about their eye make up, this is the story Lucas tells about Eli.

Lucas said that Eli cut off all his eye lashes in the Philippines. Of course we said, "What?" (Eli is sitting there nodding like this was a very rational and explainable event. Lucas continues by telling us that, "Auntie (worker at the orphanage) was "cutting her lashes" (through the hand signals we think this was curling her lashes) unfortunately the boys, being boys, must have thought they looked like scissors. When the Auntie left the room Eli decided his eye lashes need trimmed too. Except he used scissors. I'm surprised he had a eye lid left.

As we all sit around discussing this, Eli said, "But Lucas do it too." So all heads swing to Lucas, who smiles and says, "Yep, me say to Eli, you go first. Me no do it, auntie came back." Oh the wisdom of older siblings and the lessons the younger sibling learns the hard way.

The Sound of Music

It is kind of hard to put this particular post into words as it revolves around the evolution of music. No not from Mozart to Owl City but the evolution of music into Eli's world.

Lucas has been full of music and dance (and a few other things) from the very beginning. Michael Jackson moves were his favorite. He would hum and sing and ham it up.

Eli was (and I strongly emphasize was) our quiet one, at least regarding music. Eli just had a harder road to travel in the Philippines than Lucas. I don't think he ever felt that he had much to sing about. He liked to listen to Lucas' cd's but

wasn't interested to have any of his own or to try to sing along.

I was working in the kitchen this past week and heard the most beautiful, off key, kind of tone deaf singing coming from the boys' room. Eli was singing what I can only describe as church, school and pop music all in one song. I think he mixed every song he'd heard in the last 10 months and composed his own version. Since then, in the car, outside or in the shower he sings. I wish the people who gave him no reason to sing in his early years could hear the joy he sings about now.

The upper photo was a month before we went to the Philippines to bring the boys home, the lower was from this past week-end when he finally felt it was okay for him to sing.

Grandma Plummer's 90th Birthday Celebration

My mom turned 90 years old this past week-end. We had an open-house on Sunday at her assisted living center. We celebrated with so many family and friends...many of whom had not met Lucas and Eli, come to think of it our girls hadn't met some of our far flung family members. We talked to the boys about the expected crowd as sometimes they don't handle crowds well. As you can see from their smiles it didn't phase them in the least. They even stood to meet and greet people until the cousins who are their ages arrived and then it was a free for all in the court yard. Even better I think Mom really enjoyed the day. Hope I'm able to stand that much excitement when I'm 90.

Do You Know Where You're Going!

Apparently my sons have come to the conclusion that mom has lost her sense and knowledge of direction of the area that she has spent the last 47 years in. I will acknowledge that perhaps my senses are dulled as I did make the misguided decision to take Lucas with me to pick up Eli at a birthday party....that's when I "got lost".

Eli's friends' party was at a lake about 8 miles cross country. Lucas has also (falsely) decided that if we are in the car by ourselves that he is in charge of navigation. While he is very good navigating he does it in a manner that, shall we say, conveys his utter belief that you are new to the country and have no clue where or how to get anywhere. Those who know me also know that you can "think" what you like about my abilities just don't let me "know" you think I'm an imbecile.

After about 20 right, left, straight, slow down, move over, are we lost comments, I did something totally childish and I fully acknowledge probably proved his point - I turned down a gravel road that I really didn't have a clue where it came out. Now before you think anyone was in danger...I knew what direction home was and I knew where the nearest town was and we could have stopped at anytime to ask directions. When we made the turn onto this road you should have seen Lucas' face. He screams (I do mean scream) Where are you going! Not like this! Where this road go? I said I don't know but we will find out. The road lasted 4 miles and connected with a road that he knew where we were. Then you should have seen the "light bulb" moment when he figured out that Mom knows short cuts too. Until then Dad was the only person who knew how to find a short cut.

You may ask what Eli thought of this whole saga....well he had just come from a birthday party, he was high on sugar and swigging a can of Mountain Dew. I had his seat belt on tight to keep him from bouncing of the roof. As Lucas is screaming we are about to fall off the edge of the world, Eli is screaming yahoo at the top of every hill. Tylenol was my friend when we made it home.

Food Critics Need to Cook

We may have found an occupation where the boys will excel...that of food critic. Now I give them credit for having the smarts to keep their opinions to themselves of mom's cooking, unfortunately Mike usually does breakfast duty on the week-ends.

The boys like pancakes and eggs. Now there is an art form to their version of eggs. Mom doesn't even attempt it, Dad is the hero with a successful cooking rate of 75% achievement with "HARD" eggs.

This morning I'm not sure if Mike was after the Breakfast Hero Award or what but he attempted pancakes and eggs at the same time, on the same griddle. Looked good to me. Then I hear the boys' conversation from the table...."Hmmm, eggs hard.....pancakes hard, (sigh)". Guess it just means that there are two more guys who will learn to cook for themselves before they are 18. Ha!

Filipino Farmers

Mike happened to take this picture in the bean field next to our house and today Eli brought home a project on soybeans.

We always say "bean field, beans" when we are talking about soybeans. Eli was quite proud to inform us that they are called SOY BEANS! not beans. Once again we are reminded of our lazy speech patterns - we will try to improve. For those reading that are bringing home older adoptees think about practicing not using any slang or contractions in your speech. It's hard but is really confusing to English language learners.

Back to soybeans....since the corn and soybeans were up to our knees we've been trying to tell the boys not to go into the field because they could get lost in there. They didn't believe us until they went 4 rows into the field and couldn't see the house any more.

Lucas thought he could just follow a row of beans and find his way out, so we had to explain that the rows rap around the hill in this field and he would not come to the end. That left him thinking and Mike taking their pictures.

Manila Traffic Jam in Iowa

Just before bedtime last night we became "noticeably" aware of the quiet sounds of Eli playing in the hallway.

Mike came around the corner to find the above scene being constructed. He asked Eli what he was playing. His answer, "Lots, lots of cars. No go anywhere, like Philippines, Manila. Well I don't think he owns enough Match Box cars to truly do their traffic jams justice and the ones we participated in were about 6 lanes across with cars pretty much pointed every direction imaginable. I think I like Eli's Iowa version better.

Can you see how tired he was? It was 7:30 and he hit the sack shortly after this. 2nd Grade wears a guy out.

Expanding the Patch - Four Legs at a Time

Well there's been another adoption.....pet style to the Pickle family. Our neighbors dog has decided that our house and kids are the place to be. So tonight the official handover happened. As you can tell by the pictures "Wally" is a 7 month old basset hound and all the kids in residence are pretty pleased.

Faye, who is our German Shepard/Husky mix, seems to be taking it in stride. She doesn't get too excited about anything other than rabbits. She just has this disgusted look and walks away when she's tired of playing.

The boys want to know if Wally's parents don't want him anymore. Not hard to figure out the connections they are making. Nothing is easy, even getting a pet that they really want.

What Color Is My Sisters' Nose

So allergy season has reared it's ugly head and taken possession of Sydney's nose.

Tonight at supper Sydney was complaining because she has auditions tomorrow for the school play and she's sounding a little scratchy and sneezing her head off. Of course her brothers were quick to voice their "concern" and critique of her dilemma.

Lucas, "Sydney, what wrong with your nose, it's red!"
Eli, "Sydney, look at me, look at me,.....no it's not! It's pink!"

Followed by what else.....giggling. I wonder what those giggles will sound like when their voices change. I think we need to record them so that Sydney will one day have the last laugh from all their teasing.

Summer's Accomplishments

The mouth never closes - even underwater!

Do you think he's having fun?

If you care to dredge back through this blog to last November when we picked up the boys in Manila, you will find an entry on Mike having to fish Eli out of the hotel swimming pool because Eli was positive he could swim and Mike had yet to kick into the parent of "monkey see, monkey do" boys.

This summer we were determined to make sure the boys no longer sank to the bottom of pools and lakes and took them for swimming lessons. Lucas - what can I say - is a fish, Eli - is an anchor. They both started out a little skittish. Lucas got over that in the first lesson and jumped from beginner to Level III in a day. Eli did move up to Level II but still not a fan of the face in the water. Probably has something to do with swallowing water because he has a small problem, his lips never meet for longer than 2 seconds. The kid loves to talk.

Now it's August, as you can see from the photos they conquered the pool and now don't understand why the pool is closing for the season. Once again boys, Welcome to Iowa.

Come on Lord Ring!

On Wednesday night we took the kids and went to Olive Garden in Omaha. It was what you could say, our send off dinner for Rachel as she heads back to college.

Olive Garden is not Lucas and Eli's favorite restaurant but they endured because it was Rachel's night and I guess spaghetti sounded good as long as they were ensured there was "biff" meatballs.

As is usual there is a wait for seating and they hand us the little round buzzer, which of course necessitates a war of who will hold it. Too bad they have a mother who remembers the trauma of the buzzer from our last visit and also remembers it is Eli's turn to hold it.

We sat down to wait our turn. Peace rained for about 10 minutes until I happen to turn my head sideways to see Eli with the buzzer pressed to his forehead, his eyes shut, then we as well as half the lobby of Olive Garden hear him (say or pray - you pick) Come on Lord! Ring! Peace no more, laughter ensued and we had a table in 2 minutes. Keep praying buddy.

Groucho Marx

You know when you are driving along and one (or sometimes more) of your kids say, "Mom, look at me!"? That is a favorite of Eli's. He always has something visual he wants to show you.

Tonight I was doing the driving and Rachel was riding shot gun. Eli wants me to look at him in the backseat. I told him I couldn't because I was driving. His response?

"Oh, I fix it. Rachel, you drive, put hand on wheel, you can do it, mommy look at me."

As in the way of most dictators, his orders didn't get the desired results. In the way of the Grouch Marx he may have a future as the straight man.

Restroom Heroes

Tonight Sydney dug out one of her many "prized" boxes of toys that she had saved back. This particular box was probably from 10-12 years ago. Sydney wasn't a big Barbie fan but she did have this complete set of action figures that survived my daycare provider days. Yeah for the manufacturer because they survived in fairly good condition.....not sure they will survive the "Filipino Fire" but we'll see.

Sydney was telling them that they were called, Rescue Heroes. Yep that didn't translate so well and now we have the boys' translation to Restroom Heroes. Pretty sure Mattel won't be changing the name.

Sydney is also instilling the fact that yes girl action figures can be heroes, our macho sons say, NO! Once again when will they learn not to upset the females in the family?

Spellers to Your Corners!

This week marks the first full week of school. As such it brings with it the first spelling tests and the corresponding study before tests. Study...arguments it's pretty hard to tell with Lucas and Eli.

The problem we have is that Lucas is older and is now working with an unmodified spelling list, different from last year. It's scrambling his mind. Eli being the supportive and competitive brother that he is has declared it his mission to "help" study.

Here is the problem. Eli is getting the words faster than Lucas. (this week) Can you all imagine the volume of unhappiness that erupts. Separation is the only peaceful non-violent way to go. Hard to do when Lucas can recite his spelling words by memory and then pauses to get the spelling that's when Eli begins spewing the spellings before Lucas can get it out.

Boys sure can improve your reflexes and mobility. If we are too slow I'm pretty sure they will be spelling words through fat lips, courtesy of their spelling partner.