Seriously? They Just GIVE You Candy????

Okay, so I've been swamped and haven't had the time to get to the blog. This past month has seen two of my babies turn a year older (and one birthday party to plan and execute), one choose to become baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (and one baptism luncheon to plan and execute), Halloween and all the craziness that that entails, two boys starting Karate and two girls starting dance classes, and one boy starting Boy Scouts. We also experienced the girls' first fishing trip on a boat, a day with the cows on the mountain, and a fleeting snowfall, which only got the girls even more excited for the day when it would actually stay on the ground!

They've been home nearly five months and I can't believe the growth in our whole family. Wyatt and Tsegereda joke and fight like true brother and sister. Overall they get along great and do so very well together. Tsegereda has become very grateful and often writes sweet notes of thanks and love, drawing wonderful pictures of the whole family (I dig my long, straight orange pig-tails that she always adorns me with). Rodas likes to mimic her big brother Noah, the brother that I have advised her NOT to follow, so now I have two children jumping on the couch and usually doing the opposite of what I have asked...the difference is that Noah usually just gets side-tracked on his journey to comply and he seems to want to do good but the little devil on his shoulder usually wins. Rodas simply delights in opposition! (0;

My sweet, little oppositional girl and myself have taken one big step forward this month, though. A few weeks ago, after my tolerance was reached with her constantly saying "no" to literally everything I said--even comments I made about myself (Me: "I'm hungry" Rodas: "NOOOOOO!"), I finally blew a gasket. She was throwing a fit over a piece of gum...I think it was that I wouldn't give it to her because it was just before nap...and I just lost it. I ranted about how we were all trying so hard and how it was frustrating constantly hearing "no" from her and having her fight everything I did. She had a little Princess parasol and I remember her popping it open and placing it between us, as if to make the words just bounce off the top of it so they wouldn't reach her ears (usually she just puts her hands over her ears when she doesn't want to hear what you have to say). I told her that I loved her but was tired of her spiteful behavior...then I walked away from her. As I walked into my bedroom, I reminded myself that I was doing the opposite of what I should be doing. I counted to ten then walked back out into the hall. She wasn't there, but I found her standing in her room, sad and mad. I took the parasol out of her hands and picked her up, hugging her fiercely. It was not what she expected. I told her that I loved her and that I was not going to leave her. We both cried, and while crying I noticed that I was rocking her and she wasn't stopping me.

Since then, she has let me sway to the "Momma beat" when holding her. She still is a stinker a lot (as am I), but I think we had a bit of a break-through and can hopefully keep building on that.

At the beginning of the month, we enjoyed Ethiopia Night in Salt Lake City, and the girls loved hearing and seeing some familiar sights and sounds. The boys had a ball and we finally got them all up dancing.

Halloween was a fun experience, with the girls disbelieving that there actually was a holiday that centered around people just giving you candy. Yeah right! They kept practicing saying "trick or treat" the weeks before so that they would get it just right! Of course they learned the "smell my feet" version as well (from Noah), but were quick to tell me they'd only say it at home because if they said it at a house then there'd be noooooo treat! (0: It was a soggy Halloween for us, but they all had fun and the girls now believe that America is the land of SUGAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyways, here are some more pictures from the past month: