Halloween

So, we had a pretty obvious theme for Halloween this year. It was all thanks to A. who fixed on a Darth Vader costume. From there it was pretty easy to convince I. to join the theme, and there we had it. Of course, after that I figured they had better watch the movies so they would know something about their costumes. Believe it or not, that was the first time they saw the movies.

I ended up having to borrow a sewing machine for the project since every costume had to be adjusted when they came in the mail. I.'s looked nothing like the picture they had posted online and was so hideous that we had to do some major reconstruction before I would let him wear it. I could have fit two of me in the original "one size fits all" Leah costume. A.'s just needed some hemming. D.'s was the real challenge since all male Star Wars costumes are either a tunic with lines painted on to show there should be three layers, or it costs $800. We opted to make a costume, but getting fabric here is quite a challenge and I didn't have time to buy anything online. Luckily a girl had some leftover fabric she brought with her from the states that she donated. To die the white fabric, we bought some tea since we knew that would give it a nice natural color. When I. went with me to the store to buy the tea he was very concerned and asked, "Mom, does God know what we're doing?" It was so cute! I explained to him that, yes, God knew what we were doing and that even though we don't drink tea, it still has some very good uses, such as dying fabric.

I love this picture of I. because it looks like it's Photo Shop-ped, but it's not! He was running down the hall and I was trying to tell him to turn around so I could get a picture. Instead, he just leaned his head way backward, and this is the result.


Okay, you have to admit it, K. is the cutest X-wing fighter pilot ever!!!


We even carved pumpkins. We actually haven't done this for quite a while (because of moving and things), and the kids were ecstatic! Because of safety reasons, though, while we are living here, we are supposed to do all we can to NOT make it obvious that we are American. Thus, no putting out jack-o-lanterns on the front porch. We put the pumpkins outside for this picture only.

This picture had to be added, just because. It is amazing the costumes A. puts together when you're not looking. Here is is wearing my boots from the Leah costume, I.'s Jedi belt, and the scabbard from his sword. Looking good!

K.'s a Walker

It finally happened, K. decided to walk! We are all very, very excited. Of course, this now means he is a walking menace leaving pure chaos in the wake of everywhere he goes, but we love it. And also, of course, he started walking those first few steps while D. was gone on one of his many TDYs (i.e. it was around late Aug that this all happened). So here we have a video from when he first started walking, and then a clip a little later to show his progress. He still wouldn't pass a drunk driving test since he can barely walk in a straight line, but it's so fun to watch he waddle like a penguin. (It's his enormous budda belly that runs interference with his balance :)

Coming Home in STYLE

So, as you all know, D. is gone a lot. . . .but there are some advantages. I.e., getting special permission for you and your kids to go onto the flightline (a normally totally restricted area) and see your husband roll up in the back of a F-16. We even had to get a special form signed to allow me to take pictures. So here are the fruits of that!

A. waiting with his ear protection.

D. coming in on his sweet ride!

D. de-boarding. It's a little different than your standard flight.

You can see how much we miss our daddy when he's gone.

Even K. had ear protection on.

After getting a tour of the plane, A. decided to try his own wings.

K.'s Many Adventures

So D. is out of town, so of course lots of fun stuff have been happening on the home front. K. decided to learn how to climb a ladder--unfortunately it was up a ladder into someone's back yard above ground pool. I came outside to find him at the top of the ladder looking down into the water. Thank goodness I came out when I did--it scared me half to death to see him there.

Then he flooded our bathroom by putting a roll of toilet paper into the bidet and turning the water on. There was several inches of water in the bathroom by the time I realized what was happening. He was in there sliding around on him tummy having an absolute ball! It's a good thing our whole house is tile flooring--it makes for easier clean up.

There have been many other adventures, but the only other one I'm going to mention is his back flip off the couch. I think he was just trying to lean up against the edge of the couch, but ended up going over and landing on his head. Of course it was right before bed time and like I said, D. is out of town, and I couldn't get a hold of him. I read a lot online about what to do (since going to the Pordenone Italian hospital wasn't exactly anything I wanted to do) and ended up just keeping him up for observation for another hour and then checking on him every couple of hours during the night. He was fine, but it's probably the best goose egg any of our children have ever gotten. Now that it's a few days later, the color is really starting to show and he was the most popular person at church with everyone wondering what had happened. I took a picture, but it really doesn't do justice to what it really looks like. If you look closely, you can see the little racoon bruises on the inside of his eyes.

The first day after.

Today now that the color has begun to come in.

Ode to Summer

The summer has basically ended for us. I. started school on the 25th of Aug, (above is his first day of school) but he will be transferring to the Italian school on the 8th of Sept when that starts. Yes we have decided to take the plunge and put I. in the Italian schools--although we haven't told the American school yet, so I'm not sure what resistance we are going to find because of his speech therapy needs. Anyway, back to the ode to summer. We got a new camera that is waterproof and we have been able to take some fun pictures. Here are a few for your enjoyment.

Blog Alert

Apparently I blog in spurts, so scroll down and search older posts, because I just added a bunch! I post them according to when they happened, not when I added them, so make sure to look around!

2 Big Announcements

Announcement 1:
The Hatcher bed and breakfast has been open for a while, but considering the lack of customers, we felt we needed to advertise. So while we thought we would be here for a full 4 years, there is now the chance that we will be here only 1 more (i.e. moving next June). We will not find out until December if the move will happen, but we wanted to let everyone know in case they want to make some plans. The bed and breakfast is spacious, with plenty of room for visitors, some meals included, and a nightly fee you can't surpass (free), and only an hour from some great places like Venice! (For example, airfare right after Thanksgiving is amazing into Venice, and we usually have pretty good weather then.) We really do welcome anyone who would like to come for a visit. If you know how to contact us, you can make a reservation.

Announcement 2:
We have begun the process of adding to our family again. Except this time, it is through adoption! We have already completed our home visit and are in the midst of piles of paperwork that typify the adoption experience. We have decided to adopt a child from Ethiopia and are really excited for the future. The adoption process is a long one, so we are not expected to add to our family for a least 6 months up to a year, and possibly more (although not likely with Ethiopia which has a great adoption program in their country). So if you start to see me add things about Ethiopia, you will understand why that is constantly on our minds. This is one of those things that we have been very strongly prompted by the Lord to pursue--a surprise even to ourselves--and a decision we hope you will all support us in. We will try keep everyone up to date as things progress.