The Gumball Guy

The hightlight of this week was the arrival of "Gumball Guy."

He first arrived as a birthday gift from Denny and Pat (and their kids) when I was in grade school. What makes him even more special is that Uncle Denny made him. For his own good, when Henry arrived I put Gumball Guy on a shelf in Henry's closet. The last few months Henry has pointed up to the shelf and asked me about him. I explained that he has gumballs in his head, you turn his ears and a gumball comes out of his mouth!

Recently, Henry started to open the closet door, pretend to turn his own ears and make a special sound meant to be a gumball coming out of his mouth. It was pretty cute...and I knew what he was trying to tell me.

This week, I finally remembered to buy gumballs when we were in Willmar! Henry literally shook with excitement as we opened the bags of gumballs and filled up The Gumball Guy's head.

The first words out of Henry's mouth when he wakes up each morning are, "Gumball Guy!" and then he's off and running for the kitchen. He loves to guess which color gumball will come out. I love watching him turn the ears - he takes a big breath and looks at me with big eyes when he hears a gumball drop into place! What fun...


Gumball Guy


Enjoying a morning chew and chat with Gumball Guy before breakfast.


Getting ready...

Aah, the joy!

Bingo

On the 26th we got together with Nate's family on his mom's side. Occasionally, we have our parties at Grandma Josie's church - the kids can run around and the cousins (who are now 30+ years old) and their kids can play dodge ball while everybody else watches and tries to avoid getting hit by a wild throw! :) We also play Bingo...there is even a table full of prizes. Henry had his eye on the gum all afternoon and Dad finally won it for him.


Henry had a lot of fun "helping" Grandpa with the Bingo hopper (I think I made that up!). Anyway, he loved pulling the little balls out and putting others back in that had already called. Basically, he made quite a mess for Grandpa!

I am the mother of a BOY!

Of course, I knew that already. For some reason it struck me tonight while we were eating dessert, that Henry is a typical 2 yr old boy - moving and climbing non-stop! Whenever we're eating at the kitchen table and Henry is not safely secured in his chair....he is climbing on me or Nate. See below.





We just signed on as the newest act in a traveling circus! I'll work on not having awkward poses before our first performance - although, in my defense, have you ever tried to balance a 30 lb child on your neck/head while eating cake?

Christmas in Renville

Last year the three of us didn't really do our own Christmas at home. We wanted to make sure that we started setting aside a time for us to celebrate and begin traditions. Henry and I even made fudge and cookies to give to our neighbors (a tradition from my mom) this week. I'm sure we'll change some things over the years, but this is how we celebrated tonight.


Henry woke up from his nap just in time to help make a birthday cake for Jesus. You can see what his favorite part was (mine too).


We're getting ready for a big snow storm tomorrow. Here's our house before the supposed 12-20 inches that are coming...


Nate and Henry waiting to eat dinner/supper. Henry was excited about blowing out the candles. After supper we read story of Jesus' birth from Luke 2.

Oops - remembered that I had 2 presents that still needed to be wrapped. Or should I say, "re-wrapped?" Henry had fun helping me wrap his presents...and then opening them 5 minutes later. What a waste of a tree, huh?

Family pic

Opening his first present - he loves puzzles right now.

Typical guy! He opened his wagon box, took out the parts and immediately started stacking tires!

We sang "Happy Birthday" and then blew out the candles. (By the way, that's a manger next to the word "Happy." Next time, I'll stick to the basics.)

Nate's Birthday: Take 2

This weekend we celebrated Nate's birthday with my family. We also had a little visitor for part of the weekend! We all enjoyed spending time with Addie while her mom and dad were at a wedding.

On the adoption front, we received notice that out I600- A was approved. One more step to mark off!


Finishing up an Oreo Ice Cream Bar with Mimi's help - Yum!


Nate got a card that plays music when opened - Henry was very surprised. He enjoyed opening and closing it.

This was the gift of the night! Henry couldn't wait to climb to the top. We'll have to keep this "toy" locked away since I already have a hard time keeping Henry's 2 feet on the ground!

Addie liked this birthday card the best...

What a sweetie pie.

Henry helped set the table for cake. I can't believe how much he can do now!

Playing in the Snow

Last year I didn't have boots for Henry so he never got to use his snow pants! Great-Aunt Gayle got some boots for Henry and we bought some bigger snow pants - he was set for a morning of fun in the snow with Megan. I followed the around in my pajamas, grandma's coat and boots, and a teal ear warmer...quite the spectacle!


Looking so grown up in his snow clothes! He did NOT want to wear mittens but a few seconds in the cold changed his mind.

Throwing Snow

Having Fun

Henry had fun making holes and looking at animal tracks in the snow.

Gus (Megan's dog) joined in the fun.

Pheasant Hunting in SD

No, I haven't taken up pheasant hunting...yet. Nate was gone for his annual SD (or "So Dak" as the guys affectionately call it) trip from Weds evening until Sunday. Of course, when Nate heads out, Henry and I make our pilgrimage to Boppa and Mama's house. Thank goodness for friends and family who kept us busy. We got to visit with friends, went to a Christmas open house (which Henry spent snoring in my arms!), and had fun with Boppa, Mama, and Mimis 1 & 2 (Erin & Megan).

Recorder concert - he even did some double tonguing (Not sure if I'm making that up or not, but I think I remember using that terminology in band 13 yrs ago.)! Pretty impressive...

Relaxing with Boppa...and playing the recorder, again.

On the move. At our house Henry has "the chair" to get where he wants to go. At Boppa and Mama's house this step stool serves as his "chair"...and it's so easy to carry, too!

If you haven't heard, Grandma (Mama) is an enabler when it comes to Henry's gum addiction. He always looks in her purse first, but then moves on to the pantry. Unfortunately for him, the gum was moved to the top shelf so the little step stool's not gonna cut it! He is a smart cookie, though, and checked each shelf...he located 1 piece that had been tucked away and forgotten on shelf #3!

It's December

I can't believe it's already December! Today is Nate's birthday. We spent the afternoon at Grandma and Grandpa A's house with Uncles, Aunts and lots of cousins. Of course I forgot my camera!

A few weeks ago Henry and I set up the Christmas tree, put on the decorations....and then took it all down. Our not-so-real-tree was having lighting issues and we ended up with a zebra tree (lights on, lights off, lights on, lights off). Anyway, the new tree is up with the decorations (minus the 3 that Henry broke).


Playing a trumpet: Henry loves "playing" my real trumpet so this ornament was intriguing to him. He literally pulled it off the tree and ran around the house making music.


We had pizza for Nate's birthday dinner (What a wife, huh?) and afterwards Henry wanted to read a story from his children's Bible/devotional.


"Hmm." Pretending to read one of his favorite Bible stories: Zacchaeus.

Blessing

The morning that we left Korea to fly home, the President of our Korean agency (ESWS) prayed for Henry during a Blessing Ceremony. Dr. Kim Duk Whang, the founder of ESWS, started this tradition. The child, foster family, adoptive parents and social worker are all present for the Blessing Ceremony. Dr. Kim and his daughter, Dr. Kim Jin Sook (the current president of ESWS), have prayed for every child as they left ESWS!

Dr. Kim (the daughter) prayed for Henry at his ceremony. Of course, we didn't know what was being said because we don't speak Korean. Last week, our US agency sent us a copy of the blessing that is said at each ceremony. It was beautiful and very moving. Once again, it made me so thankful for Henry's first family and his foster family. We are very blessed. Here is part of the prayer:

Precious Life,

We send this child for care, so please protect his life.

And make it so that he can lead a happy life in his new home.

Please provide him always with grace and intelligence and lead him to live by the ways of Jesus Christ, To have all good fortunes, to help benefit others, and to return the glory to our Lord.

It is our sincere wish that this life will not forget his home country and the love of the people who took care of him.

Father, please remember all the foster families who work hard, whether in favorable or unfavorable conditions, to protect these lives. And bless them for the benefits they are provided with.

By Your blessings, this adoptive family will be full of love and under Your protection.

Now this child leaves.

Please make his way as easy as possible and lead him to the most pleasant of lives.

In Jesus' name,

Amen

Thanksgiving

Since Nate's parents were in Arkansas for Thanksgiving, we spent the weekend with my family. My Grandma Berg came, which made it even better!


One evening, Henry came up to Grandma Berg, took her by the hand, and had her read a few books to him. Grandma ("Mama Bakkel" because she makes Sandbakkels for him) read Babar and Clifford.


He was very interested in Grandma's earrings.


Bring back any memories? We broke out the Adventure People, Little People, building blocks, and puzzles that we played with as kids. It was fun to see him enjoy playing with the Adventure People and Little People as much as we did. I do have to say, my knees are pretty sore from crawling around the whole weekend!

Relaxing in the Lazy Boy.

He Keeps Me Laughing

Just a few pictures from moments last week that made me laugh.


Daddy's binoculars have been a source of great fun for Henry...and he always looks through the wrong end. Here he's looking out the living room window.


I won't say how, but he caught a few seconds of a sword fight on t.v. and now he's constantly stealing my butter knives! We tried to swap the butter knives for spatulas (which didn't make him very happy at first). This isn't the best picture, but if you look carefully you can see he carried the spatula around in his pant leg.


All I can say is, "What have I done?" I used to put candy in this drawer because Henry couldn't reach it. Then he grew and also figured out how to use his chair to get around. Last week he discovered there was some old (and I mean old) candy in this drawer...way at the back. He cleaned it out and then came back later to check for just one last piece of candy!

Friends and Fun

Last week our friends, Mary and Addie, came to spend a few days with us. The days went so fast while they were here! Henry loved having Addie to play with but wasn't so sure about all that sharing stuff...


We had chili for supper last week and all Henry ate was Saltines and lots of broccoli! He made this face when his broccoli and Saltine sandwich fell apart!


A Basket Hat

Shhh. Henry pretends that everything is a baby. Here is Junior, the stuffed gorilla (Henry's baby). He wrapped Junior up in the blanket and put him to bed in the crib (the slide turned upside down).

Playing with Addie on the slide.

Two cute kiddos who had just woken up from naps (notice the bedhead?)

Miss Addie reading...I think the book is upside down - she's an over achiever!

Waking up.