Good Weekend

I took the boys down to Dale Hollow to spend our last weekend on the houseboat for the season. The weather was beautiful. The boys had a great time playing on the playground and in the sand. They are getting so big and do so well spending several days in a small space! Here are some pictures of the flags on the back of Mom and Dad's boat...recognize them? From left to right; Ethiopia, American, Guatemalan:)

Birthday Party!

Now that we've all recovered from the party, I can take the time to sit down and write about it! It was a GREAT day, as Grayson would say. We just love having our friends and family over to visit and especially when we have something to celebrate:) It was, once again, a Thomas-themed party, and after opening all the presents it looked like the entire Island of Sodor had exploded in our living room. It was such a nice time.

I still can't believe Grayson is four; despite the fact that he has been telling me every morning when he wakes up! He is such an amazing little boy. He is so sweet and really loves his family and friends. Then there's this little streak of spunkiness. This is the part of him that is bouncing off the walls pretty much most of the day:) This is also the part of him that tends to be a little dramatic, throw fits, and get into trouble! He is also very particular about the way things are done (I don't know where he gets this). But, what floors me the most and makes me the proudest, is the kind of brother he is to Abram. Sure, they have their moments...many of them. But, he loves Abram with every ounce of his being. Many disagreements between them are caused by Grayson being TOO affectionate with Abram. Even with such a small gap in age, Grayson truly plays the protective role of big brother. It's not uncommon to see them hugging, kissing, and holding hands throughout the day. I'm just so proud of what a great big brother he is.

Family Learning Day and the Zoo

One of the things I love most about Grayson's school is Family Learning Day. One Saturday each month, families are invited into their child's classroom for a morning of activities. The activities all relate to a specific exhibit they learned about in the weeks prior. It's so great to see Grayson take charge and teach us what he's learned. We had our second family learning day this past Saturday.

I also really love the emphasis that is put on the arts. There are so many things that public schools HAVE to teach children that often there is not much room for art. Already this year, Grayson has learned about Mexican art, African art, glass art (Dale Chihuly specifically), and so on! And, for each type of art that they've learned about, they've done a simple art project as an example. This past week, they learned about the Arctic and visited the new Polar Bears to Penguins exhibit. When I inquired about the art Grayson brought home that day (a huge pile of gluey marshmallows) he said, "it's an igloo!" How cool.

After family learning day on Saturday, we headed to the zoo. It was a nice, fall day and a chance for us to celebrate Grayson's birthday with just the four of us. We had a great day! I'll post about the party tomorrow:) The picture is of Abram watching for dolphins at the zoo.

My littlest boy

Abram is so sweet. He has the sweetest little voice and he just talks and talks all day long. He loves to quote lines from movies which I think is just hilarious. Despite his tough time separating from me in the past, he is doing so well with all the new situations being thrown at him. After a few weeks of crying when I left him, he is loving bible study. His teacher said he sings and does all the motions to the songs. There's something about the fact that the first few months with him at home were so tough that makes me love him that much more.

Getting ready for the birthday party!

Once Monday rolls around, we typically stay pretty busy. This week is even more so due to planning a birthday party:) I can't believe Grayson is going to be 4 years old...4 seems so much older than 3. So we've been staying busy getting party supplies, planning the menu, and working on my video I make for each of the kids' birthdays. Here's a pic of the birthday boy:)

Pumpkin Patch

We went to a pumpkin patch in Noblesville yesterday. It was 90 degrees! A little too hot to be standing in an open field. I didn't take too many pictures of the boys because I wanted to get some pictures of little Miss Abby, our friends' daughter:)

Those eyes!

Both Grayson and Abram have big, brown eyes that make me melt! It's so hard to tell them no:)

The simplicity of children...

The other day, a little girl (about 8 or 9) was commenting on how cute the boys are. She asked if they were mine and I, of course, said they were. Without any hesitation she replied, "I can tell; they have your eyes." I smiled, said thank you, and we went on our way. At first, I just kind of chuckled over the whole thing. But then, I realized how refreshing it was for some one to just so simply accept our family at face value. She didn't launch into a series of questions about how they came to be a part of our family, where they are from, how much it cost (yes, I get this a lot), what happened to their birth parents, etc. Instead, she accepted my response and found a resemblance between the three of us...just as most people would do with most families.

This is not to say that I feel burdened by the questions that people ask. In fact, I really enjoy any opportunity in which I can share the blessing of adoption with others. If I had thought that my family wouldn't draw some attention in public, I would have been just plain naive. However, what I didn't necessarily expect was the number of people that would ask questions just to be nosy. I've even had people stop me so they can try to figure out what ethnicity their fathers must be if I'm their mother...

On the flip side, we receive so many positive comments from wonderful people. Not a day goes by that we don't get stopped so that an older lady can play with the boys, or comment on how cute they are. We are constantly having cashiers and waitresses digging through boxes of goodies just trying to find something to give them. We even have a lady at Taco Bell who gives them free drinks and cinnamon twists. The attention we receive is almost always positive and comes from well-intentioned people.

But, all that to say, it was so nice the other day to have a little girl simply accept our family at face value, no questions asked:)

New lens

Found a great deal on a new lens. I think I'm going to love it! Here are a few pictures I took tonight.

Playground

We've been going a nearby playground several times a week with the weather being so nice. Tonight we took our dinner:) I was only able to snap a few pictures of Grayson...Abram's nose wouldn't stop running long enough to get a good picture:)

Tire swing

I love the "crisp" weather we've been having lately. The boys have been enjoying the backyard so much more than when it was 100 degrees and humid! I got some good pictures of the boys on the tire swing...they love each other so much. Although, it did serve as a lesson on times of day that aren't the best for pictures as well as adjusting the exposure compensation on my camera. Sigh. I really enjoy this photography thing...but, like all things, I find myself getting impatient and wanting to become a professional overnight:)

Pumpkin Patches and Sand Boxes

I got a chance to get a few pictures of the boys at a pumpkin patch this weekend. I love this time of year!

Liberty for the weekend:)

This evening we're heading home to see the parents. I love going home at this time of year...cookouts, pumpkin patches, etc. It's so much fun with the boys at this age...they just LOVE their Papa, Nini, Granny, Grandpa, and Great Grannies!

Here's a picture I took of Grayson the other day. You'll notice he has his best friend, Meerkat, with him. Meerkat goes pretty much everywhere Grayson goes:)

Balls

I mentioned Abram's obsession with the carousel. Grayson's favorite exhibit at the museum is the ball machine. He could stand there and watch the balls all day long. Though, unlike Abram, he doesn't talk about the balls every waking hour!

Carousel

To say Abram loves carousels is an understatement. His obsession is now being fed by the fact that we take/drop off Grayson at the Children's Museum twice a week for preschool. Abram wakes up and almost immediately starts talking about carousels. At one point, the carousel at the museum was closed for maintenance for 3 weeks. He talked non-stop about the carousel being broken. But, it's up and going now and he loves riding it each day after we pick up Grayson!

Photoshop

Aaron got a Photoshop trial installed for me today. I've had fun playing around with the pictures I've taken over the last few days. I have to say that this program is a little intimidating! There is just so much you can do. I think I need to focus more on the photography basics right now and not get too caught up in all the fun that is editing!!

More new pics:)

After an evening using the "super clearance" DSLR, I knew I was really going to enjoy this picture-taking thing:) But, I had also realized that the camera we bought had serious limitations. The auto focus was extremely slow and made it difficult to get some of the shots I wanted of the boys. It also had a lot of trouble focusing in low light. So, we went back to Wal-Mart and upgraded. We decided on the entry level Canon Rebel XS. It takes great pics on some of the auto modes, but allows me to experiment with the manual settings I as learn more and more. The icing on the cake is uploading the pics to iphoto on Aaron's laptop and doing some editing. I can't wait to learn more! Here are some pictures I took at the park today!

New Camera:)

I've been researching DSLR's for quite some time, but have been a little hesitant to make the price commitment. I'm so afraid to lay down $500 or more and then not have a "knack" for photography. But, today when we were at Wal-Mart and saw a display model marked way down, I saw my chance to get a taste of photography without the huge price tag. So, I may start blogging again so I can post pics from the new camera:)

I Heart Faces: All About Babies

Bonito Burrito, originally uploaded by ejarvis1.

This week's photo challenge at I Heart Faces is all about babies:) This is one of my favorite photos of Grayson. Hard to believe how fast they grow up!

I Heart Faces

Pool Play, originally uploaded by ejarvis1.

This is my first entry on I Heart Faces! I was inspired by a fellow adoptive parent who takes BEAUTIFUL pictures! Check out more of her awesome pictures here. This week's challenge was called "Play!" Thanks for taking a look.