I Survived Scout Camp

Well....at least the first night.

The back story: We are going to try Sawyer in Scouts this year. He will be a Tiger starting in the fall. When Randy was signing Judson up for summer camp and also volunteering, he happened to mention Sawyer would be a scout this coming fall. Lo and behold, they have camp for 'rising' Tigers. (it's new) They wanted to Sawyer to try it. There was only 1 more boy signed up, so it would be a small group. They would even assign a boy to be his 'shadow'. We agreed if I could also be his shadow. Their words, "We hope you will feel like you can leave him but it's all up to you". I was like, let me observe and see how he does the first night.

FIRST NIGHT

The boy assigned to shadow Sawyer is a first year boy scout. I think that means he just finished 6th grade. Ummm...not exactly a positive point in my book. THEN the den leader didn't show up. Finally, one man shows up to lead one of the classes and was re-assigned to be the Tiger Den Leader. About half way through, another lady shows up to be the 'helper'. So there is one 6th grader, one helper, and one leader of the one-boy Tiger den. Pretty good odds, unless it involves Saw-man. He left them in his dust. First of all, 6th grader has Aspergers. So much of the time, he was in his own world and not aware that that world did not include Sawyer, who happened to be in his own world also. One time, they all happened to take their eye off Sawyer at the same time. Sawyer sensed it and made for the woods. I (from my vantage point) across the parking lot saw this. So I yelled (did not get up because I did not interfere with any part of the activities) "Sawyer". They turned around and caught him. I think that was when they realized that Sawyer was a force of nature and should be treated as such.



But really, the leader was wonderful. He has 2 sons of his own. One of which has CP. The lady who was helping has a son who is ADHD. So by the end of the night, I was quite pleased with how they had regrouped and realized that one little boy could need 2 handlers. So, I may go back tonight to see which leader shows up for Tigers. If it is the 2 adults who were there on Monday night, I'll be good with staying at home the rest of the week.


We didn't get home til 9:30. My little scouts are still asleep at 7am.
That is new. Never happened in the history of the 6 person Stricklin family.

FOUR???? Already?

THIS!!!!!! This is the very first picture we ever saw of our little guy.
He looked like an old man.
He had a twinkle in his eyes.
He had chubby cheeks.
And OH WHAT A SMILE!

Look at him now.
Same sweet smile.
Same twinkle in his eyes.
Same chubby cheeks.
He has somewhat of an old soul.

So full of life.
So much joy.
So eager to please.
Such a loving person.

He's a gem!
We are very blessed.
Everyday is a blessing when we get to spend it with him.
He never fails to bring a smile to our faces.
He never fails to give hugs.
He never fails to T.A.L.K. ( a lot)
He never fails to strive to do his best.
How did we get so lucky?

Alice In Wonderland-The Ballet

Take One-Warm Up
Take Two: The Performance


Take Three: Basking

It's Not Okay

The Twins

(so I couldn't get the video to load...must be too long and I don't know how to edit it)

Here are the twins playing one of their games. Can't remember if they were getting ready to go hiking or to the grocery or maybe some movie re-enactment. Doesn't matter. They do this a lot and have a wonderful time pretending. Makes me smile. (especially Sawyer's bag lady look)

Tap Recital (Ballet Recital on the 28th)

She was so excited to be on stage tonight. AND to wear some makeup. AND to do something no one else in the family has done. To quote her: "This is the life. That's what I'm talking about."

Now, Mom could tell she was nervous. She kept biting her bottom lip.
BUT
She had the time of her life.

(Note: The pics are what they are..it was dark)

VIDEO
Couldn't load tonight. Will try later.

PICTURES

b4
during(they are looking left for the teacher's queue)





after

Oh the Places We Go

CAMPING

FIELD DAY

Busy Saturday

Judson ran in his 2nd Peachtree Junior race. He did it in a bit less than 18 minutes.
His best time yet!

A buddy from scouts!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then we met up with our friend Luyushu and her Dad.
It's been 2 months since her Mom died.
They are doing pretty well,
adjusting to their new normal.
(At least, I think they're doing better than I would be)

Bottom left corner, Sawyer going down with his new friend.
One would climb up to the top
and wait on the other one to get there.
Then they'd hold hands and slide down together.
They'd get to bottom, laugh, and say "let's do it again"

Take a Look

Really take a look at her!
She is 5 years old.
She should be in Kindergarten giving the teachers grief.
She should be with her family.
She is not.
She is trapped in an ugly place with no hope of a future.
Did you look at her?
Doesn't she remind you of Mrs Beasley?
Doesn't she tug at your heart strings, just a bit?
You could help.
Click HERE.

Quick Post-Jailbird continues his slide

Since Blogger lost my last post, I'll make this short and sweet until I know Blogger is behaving.

Speaking of behaving, let's talk about Jailbird.

This morning while preparing for school, you could see a spark in the Jailbird's eyes. He was animated. He was excited. He was busy. He was talking. Telling his Dad not to call him 'Saw-man', his name was Sawyer Stricklin. He was headed toward trouble.

His Daddy said, "you sure look and sound like a little boy who is going to get in trouble at school today".

Before sending him to his bus, we admonished him. "No Tweeting. No bad reports. Or NO GROCERY STORE". (That is his reward at the end of hard week of Kindergarten)

He said, "Okay, Mom
(If you have a 20 year old Ethiopian son, you might recognize "OK MOM" as the standard reply when his English fails him and he has no idea what you just said. The same may apply here too)

On the positive side, He did NOT tweet.

Nope. He DING DONGED instead. Along with throwing crayons on the floor and some other things.

This means, Mom gets a trip to the store by herself tonight.
You'd think I'd be doing the happy dance.
However, it's quite fun taking Sawyer to the Grocery store, so I'm a bit saddened.

Randy suggested taking one of our alternates.
I declined the offer.

Lend a Hand

See that button to your RIGHT? The one for IAN?

Check out IAN's Mommy's Blog RIGHT HERE.

If you have never been through an adoption, you have NO idea how stressful and time consuming it can be. It can drain every bit of energy you have. It takes an emotional toll.

So why do it? Look at that face and tell me he is not worth it. That face that has the look of an angel. Put here by God. Deserving of a Mommy and Daddy.

Eastern Europe has some of the most expensive countries from which to adopt. They are also notorious for treating orphans in general, special needs kids specifically, very poorly. Little Ian has a heart defect that needs attention. A heart defect that will kill him if it is not treated.

So I say all that to say, if you have money and wish to donate, I know his mommy would be appreciative. If you click on the IAN button, you can make a tax deductible donation. If you have a kind word of encouragement to leave, please do. (Don't even bother if you have nothing good to say) A simple prayer. Whatever you feel, just show her some love. She's at her darkest moment right now and really needs some encouragement.

It does take a village and we can be her village.

Re: Jailbird

I had to go pick him up at school. He was "Tweeting" in school. Anytime the teacher opened her mouth, He started saying "Tweet Tweet Tweet". Pretty good way to get out of work. On the playground, he ran towards the woods. Not allowed. Sure was funny when the teacher came running after him, I'm sure.

So, Jailbird came home and immediately started working. Writing practice. Math Practice. Letter recognition practice. One and half hours of home work. He is now sitting on his bed.

Yeah, I'd laugh too if it happened to you!
Since he's my Jailbird, I'm trying very hard not to laugh.

Happy Mother's Day 2011

I had a very special day today.

Everyday is special with these four.
From left to right: Fashion Princess; JailBird; Tummy; Little Prof

I received lots of pretty flowers and cards and even lunch at one of our favorite restaurants.

Hope all you Moms had a special day today!

Not so Good Day....

MUG SHOTS

(Profile)

Front

Does this look like the face of someone who spent his day in the principal's office?
Picture coming to a post office near you.

Good Day!

What does $12 buy you these days?

A field trip with the entire Kindergarten...

An almost pint of fresh strawberries....

A good report from the teacher

"Sawyer had a great day!! He loved the strawberry patch. He would not take his hat off, we put it away to eat lunch- he put the hood on. It's so funny how he wants his head covered!"

This is huge. Vegas odds makers were not giving us good odds that a 'good report' was possible.

And this:

A smile as big as the Mississippi.
Animated speech and expression while relating the day's activities.
And a sunburn because Mom forgot sunscreen.