The questions......

We knew that adopting would change the 'looks' of our family, that we would be the recipients of stares and wonderment. We even knew that we would have many questions asked of us and about us, however I am truly amazed at how ignorant and rude some people can be. Many of you know I am pretty much an open book and tell you what I think, especially when you ask. So when approached by these people, my self control is tested immensely. Please understand, we are willing to tell anyone the ins and outs of our adoption story in order to help another family decide if adoption is something for their family. However, we are not willing to tell you our adoption story, especially to total strangers-just because you are nosy :) In the last couple of days I have had the privilege of talking with ignorant/rude people. I am sure these people have good hearts (or some of them might) but they just do not think before they speak. I will give you an example, and hope that this person does not stumble upon my blog. Or perhaps, if they do they will realize how they sound. So hear is how the 'scene' went:

Asked by a mother whose child was participating in the same activity mine were:

"Which is yours?"

Me: The one in the blue and the one in the black.

"Two?"

Me: Yes, two.

"The black one?"

Me: (with as sweet as smile as possible) The little one wearing blue and the little one wearing black are both my daughters.

"Is SHE (referring to the one in black) adopted?"

Me: (with a big grin) Nope :)

Of course now I have totally confused the woman, but seriously-does it matter if she is adopted, if she is a foster child, if she is a relative ;)..........I had told her which TWO were my DAUGHTERS. It's not my fault if she chose not to listen. In case you wondering, I never explained any more.

Happy Birthday Big Boy!

It is hard to believe our 'little' boy is 7! So to honor him today's post is about the Birthday Boy. He is such a handsome young man with a face full of freckles and big blue eyes. He is such a sweet spirited boy who cares deeply for others, especially his family. His dad has been teaching him what it means to be a gentleman and that he is. Always looking out for his sisters and mommy. He loves to hold open the door for us and serve the ladies first (most of the time). He has a huge heart and is very genuine and sincere. He is also a baby lover-he loves little ones and is so gentle and sweet with them. The picture of him with his little buddy from Alabama on him, is from this summer. He had become a human ladder and our little friend would start down at his feet and climb to the top-giggling and proud of his accomplishment.  

Perhaps one of my favorite things about him is his love of being close to you. He loves sitting on you, hugging you, holding your hand and at times mauling all over you. He greets me every morning with  his "morning kiss for mommy". What a great way to be greeted-I hope he never out grows that. I will cherish all of the hand holding I can get while it lasts, knowing that each year he is growing into a young man. 

Tradition in the Waggoner house is you get to choose dinner on your birthday and he has chosen to go out to eat-woo hoo! 

Another 'snow day'...another kiddo

Day three of no school, as if anyone is counting :) My niece has been out too, which means my sister has missed the last 2 days of work. Today she 'had' to go back to work-not sure for job security or her mental health......she had also been keeping a friends little girl the last two days. I think my sister decided work was a good idea today. All that to say I have my niece today, whom I love dearly and my children adore. Especially our princess-the girls are only 6 months apart and pretty much attached at the hip when they are together. They are full of giggles when they are together.

A little funny from the breakfast table.....the five of them were on their second bowl of oatmeal (which by the way is A LOT of oatmeal) and my niece asked to be excused. Little princess noticed she had some toast left and asked to eat it (apparently there is never enough food around here). So as she is eating it my niece smiles and says "I didn't want it anymore, I already licked the butter off!" These two crack me up-hopefully there are many more giggles to come today or maybe I will need a mental health day.

A little exercise....

So it's a little cold to go jump on the trampoline, let alone that it's a sheet of ice-so the kids figured out how to use a little of their energy and a bit of 'aggression'. They decided to see who could knock who out......wii boxing. Creative kids they are- they teamed up so they could all play at the same time. Sharing worked out nicely having two lefties and two righties. Nothing like a little friendly competition and cheering when you have knocked the other two siblings down.  After about 15 minutes they were all huffing and puffing and decided to move on to the bowling game ;) 

See my new smile...

Before.......

After!!!

"MOMMY, IT'S SNOWING!!!!!"

I would like to say those are the words I woke up too, but at 6:45 AM it is still dark out and they couldn't see. So the second time they 'woke up' that is what I was greeted with. Think of the most excited you have seen my children and multiply that by a bunch-Jennifer squealed with excitement and continued to yell and jump through the house-which only made the other three even more excited. They had a great time and Jennifer learned the importance of gloves. She was having a tough time figuring out why her hands were 'hurting'. However, she never wanted to come in. How fun it is to experience so many firsts with a six year old!

Ice Day

In some places schools are closed for Snow Days, in the our great state they are closed for Ice. With snow, you can at least go outside and make snowmen, snow angels and have snowball fights. With ice, you are stuck inside unless you would like to chance skating down the front steps and driveway and attempt to 'slide' your car somewhere that is most likely closed. All that to say we are spending some time quality time indoors. Courtesy of some new presents we have been having a lot of fun playing new games and putting together toys. We plan on venturing out later-so hopefully there will be a few pics to pass along.

2 Parties in 1!!!

Woo-Hoo!!!! for a brother and sister who have birthdays 8 days apart, who want the same kind of party, and want a joint party!!!! What a mommy's dream :) Both kiddos wanted a skating party and had decided that last year about a week after their parties. So not only was it an easy party to get ready for (thanks to the grandparents) it was easy to 'plan'. Reminds me that God is indeed in control of the little things in life. I have been the recipient of the stomach bug that has taken up residence in the Waggoner house-so an easy party was the only kind that would have taken place yesterday. Amazing how these two decided a year ago about this party, all before we even new there was a little girl in Ghana who was waiting to meet her forever family. Even before returning to America with their new sibling 4 days before Christmas. The last month and a half has been quite busy in our house- four of our 6 birthdays have been celebrated, Jennifer has started school, and all are making adjustments to living with 6 family members......I think I am ready for some 'routine' days, if those really exist, but feeling very blessed by the many blessings we have been given. Yes,  even for the stomach bug-which has made me see how once again God is in control, not me. For those of you who have followed our journey closely-you are probably laughing about once again me not being in control.

Back to the party, we had a blast and I am not sure if the kids or the adults had more fun skating. I would consider it a successful party-fun had by all and no one went to the emergency room, even with Tony taking out his mom. Our little Ghanian has found something she loves too-there might be another skating party in our future. I am sure she gets the prize for the best dancer on skates. (maybe some pictures in the future)

Free Time..........

Since it is a bit cold to play outside, I thought I would share how the kiddos have been spending their free time inside. They all got a Wii for Christmas, this is the first adventure into the world of video games in the Waggoner house. It has been quite a learning process for us all. Thanks to gracious grandparents they are also able to play this new toy in the playroom on their very own TV which amazingly only works for the Wii (as in there is no tv viewing). 

Another favorite activity is what is known as a 'Dance Party'  around here, which takes place in the living room with the music cranked up as loud as the old folks will allow. I am not sure who has more fun-them dancing or us watching and occasionally joining in (sorry no pics of that). It has been neat to watch them all teach each other 'their' moves. And I think it is safe to say some of the Waggoners have a bit more rhythm than others. Tony is taking all three girls to the the Daddy/Daughter Dance in February and I think he might come home with some tired feet.

Our Baby has turned 5!

The princess of the family has turned 5, a whole hand as she is so proudly displaying. We find it quite hard to believe that she is 5. She is full of smiles and giggles and has almost everybody wrapped around her little finger. She is quite a confident little girl who believes she is quite capable of doing anything she wants to. 

Unfortunately, she has been a little under the weather. She was not her normal bubbly self for her birthday. She wanted to cuddle in bed and asked 'Big Sister' (as she is affectionately called) if she would read to her. They were reading 'Tacky the Penguin' which produces a lot of laughs in our house. What a great Big Sister, who stopped what she was doing in order to show her love and care for the birthday girl. (I will have to come read this post again on the days this love and care has been replaced by what we label as 'ugly' behavior) Thankfully the camera was out so I could snap a few pics of this precious moment and their faces as they giggled and were enjoying a good book together. 

Life with 2 Kindergartners

Their teacher is an angel. An amazing woman who has embraced the challenge of teaching two Waggoners at the same time. One is learning what school is all about in America, vastly different from her school experience in Ghana. She is learning about following directions, how to be a part of a line, how to take turns, when to listen and when to speak. She has learned so much in her first week of school. She has also learned that sitting in the 'vacation chair' at school is not something to come home bragging about. She is amazing us at her ability to adapt to such a new environment. She loves life and her constant smile displays it.

Big Brother has been his sweet spirited self and has taken to having a sister in class remarkably well. He has risen to the challenge. He seems to take just enough care of his sister without bossing her around. He is concerned for her well being, wants her to succeed, offers to help but allows her to explore, learn and make mistakes on her own. He has such a big heart.

The after school question of "How was your day?" now is a bit more interesting. There are two sets of eyes and ears experiencing the same classroom. Needless to say getting the after school report  sometimes has many versions. But today I heard perhaps the best report I will ever hear. Tears were brought to the eyes of their teacher............she shared that she was told today by our daughter "Jesus died on the cross for ME!" and she went on to say that very cross was in her church. Not so sure about that second part, but we are delighted in knowing she is confidently sharing her faith. While we are hoping for her to learn many things in life, she has learned  the most important. These two kindergartners are so outspoken about their faith. They both have such amazing understandings of their Heavenly Father.

Knowing some days the after school report is not full of 'good news', hopefully their teacher and us will remember today's after school report.

We are trying.........

For some reason people have requested for us to start a blog, so we have entered the blog world.  Guess our life has finally become chaotic enough that we are peaking your interest or maybe our life is just that entertaining and you could use a smile or a laugh courtesy of life raising our four children. We hope that through this blog we will be able to share the many ways God has blessed our family.  We are so grateful for and are continually amazed by God's miracles and His guiding hand in our lives. 

Hopefully someone in our house will keep this updated among all the 'free time' and hopefully a picture or two might appear (if someone is smart enough to figure that out). As we figure this whole blogging thing out-be patient-cause it might take a bit to get another post up.

Thanks for stopping by and for those of you who we do not get to see often-hope this helps in staying connected and getting to see a glimpse into the daily happenings of the Waggoners.