Rollerland

At the end of May, the roller skating rink in Justin and I’s hometown of Roseville was auctioned off. The owners for over 25 years were parents of friends of ours. So on the day of the sale they gave us a call and invited us to go to the last skate. It was nostalgic experience for Justin and I, and the kids had a great time.

I loved watching Justin and Madison holding hands skating together.  Too sweet!

Here I am with my nephew Trevor, Brady and Madison coming up from behind.

Look at Blake's big grin!

Family photo!  Don't you love the carpet squares!

Random Updates

When I get behind the updates get pretty random. 

Blake consistently knows the colors purple, pink, orange, and white, but he still mixes up red, blue, green, and yellow.  I don't get it!

Madison and Blake were cracking me up yesterday.  Madison was trying very hard to get Blake to learn how to do knock knock jokes.  I couldn't hold in my laugh any more when she said "knock, knock" and Blake's reply was "whatya need?"  Madison rolled her eyes and said, "You are never gonna get this right are you?" 

Justin has decided that he loves the Mystery Machine too much to put over 3000 miles on it for our summer excursion.  So we now have a crazy looking camper/mini RV looking thing.  I think its name is the Fleetwood Mac.  I will have to get pictures to put on here.  As usual the kids think dad is awesome!

(Ugh!  I just found out that the camera I have our most recent pictures on has some sort of read error on it.)  I did find one of our other camera though that has these pictures of Madison.  She used one of the round brushes to brush her hair and got it tangled up in a huge mess.  After about 15 minutes of me trying we recruited help from her grandpa who was working in our basement.  Between the three of us tugging and pulling we were able to get it out without losing too much hair.  We decided it was best to just throw that brush away!

I also found this picture of Justin and Brady at the piano recital. They are so handsome!

The only other picture I have on that camera is Blake with our friend's daughter Maicyn.  Look at that grin on his face!

Then there is this great picture that was sent to me of Brady during one of his baseball games.  He loves to have a good time.

Shaymus Relays

On May 6th we attended the Shaymus relays. Shaymus is a boy in Brady’s class that has cancer. His father is a coach for the women’s soccer team (I think) at WIU. It was a heartwarming night to see the so many college students putting on a fundraiser to help Shaymus’ family. There were several children that participated.

Brady and a group of his friends

Madison’s relay team

We are all in this together. This picture sums up the event! Madison with her arm around Gracie.

Our two cheeseballs! We are so proud of them.

Here are the kids in our bible study group with Rocky.

Blake had a great time supporting all the participants!

Madison

Our beautiful ballerina

Her idea for this pose :o)

Our booty shaking hip-hop girl

Our flip flopping tumbler

I have really got to learn how to use my camera so I can get better pictures!

Brady's Piano Recital Piece

This is not the polished version, but this is the recital piece Brady played on Sunday, April 25th.  This clip was recorded by his music teacher so he is playing from memory in front of his peers.  He sure has come a long way from when he first started taking piano!

Remembering Gotcha Day!

April 27th of last year was the day that Blake said goodbye to the Artem baby home. I have mixed feelings as I reflect on this day. Of course the most overwhelming feeling is gratitude. We are so blessed to have Blake with us. I can remember the relief we felt when we had him buckled in the van and we were backing down the bumpy drive. He has the biggest smile on his face, and he left no doubt in our minds that he was more than ready to begin his new life as an Overstreet. We were also very excited to finally have a webcam session with Brady and Maddie. They were more than ready to see their new brother. Mostly today I am grateful!

The other feeling that I can’t help but to have creeping up is a bit of sadness. Justin and I can vividly remember the faces of the other children in the Bee Groupa. We can’t help but wonder what has happened to them as they moved from the baby home into an orphanage. I think about the caregivers and director of the baby home. I pray that they have the supplies and staff they need to care for the children. I pray that they know how important their jobs are in the lives of the children. I pray that they aren’t stressed and taking their frustration out on the children that are so hungry for their attention….

We spent some time last night talking about the importance of this day with the kids. We looked at pictures and shared stories. That will be how we celebrate Gotcha Day. Many adoptive families celebrate this day like a birthday. I think that is a wonderful way to mark such a memorable moment. Justin and I feel that for the dynamics of our family we are going to always remember these important milestones and talk about them freely, but as far as having a party or gifts we will stick with the birthday celebrations. While each child is special and different in their own right, we want to create a sense of continuity and ‘sameness’. We of course know there is very little that is the same about any member of any family.  (o:

Now that this blog is set to private, I thought I would post a couple of pictures from the baby home today that we haven’t shared in the past.

Here is Blake getting changed. We had to leave every piece of clothing he had on at the baby home. It was great to get him out of the tights he had on and into shoes that fit his little feet!

We were ready to go within 10 minutes of being there that day! We filled the time playing in the visiting room with the signature brown couch one last time and taking self portraits.

Justin and I talk about this moment a lot. On one of our visits we were able to go outside. Victoria and Blake enjoyed the fresh air. As we walked around the building, the children on the inside would come to the windows to watch. It is a sad memory. It is like the free bird vs. the caged bird….

 

Here are a couple of the sweet faces that we remember.

I wish we could have spent a little more one-on-one time with some of the children. To make them feel special at least for a moment….

The Bee Groupa with two of the caregivers in December of 2008. Blake is the one in all blue in the back row – second from the right.

Passport!

We were slow about filling out the paperwork for Blake's passport so Justin and I just sent out the form and such a month or ago. I really didn't like that we had to send his original copy of the Certificate of Citizenship.  That made us very nervous.  Well both his passport and his certificate came in the mail today!!!!  Guess what date the passport was issued?!?!?  April 16th.  That is exactly one year from when our adoption was final.  Very cool!