Happy Birthday/Halloween!!

Well we got to start our Halloween early this year. The kids didn't mind. The downtown businesses have their trick or treating early. Our bunny hopped the whole way there and Yoda wouldn't give up his stick for anything. We did shorten his stick right after this picture so that he wouldn't take his eye out.
Cydney celebrated her 4th birthday. She had such a great time. She got to take donuts as her treat to her preschool friends, wear a fancy dress, go shopping with some birthday money, eat pizza and cake for supper and watch a mooooovie! She woke up the next morning asking if her birthday was that day too! Ahhh...if only!
Here she is discovering her birthday present from us. A doll house. The jury is still out if the gift was for her or me. I had just as much fun setting it up for her. Needless to say I didn't see her much the next day.
We also had fun celebrating Chuseok (the Thanksgiving-like Korean holiday)with many other adoption families a few weeks ago. It was wonderful hanging out with them and meeting some new families as well. The food was terrific (thanks Rachel and Chris for hosting).

We took the kids to my 10 year college reunion. It was wonderful playing around on campus and showing the kids all of our memories.
It has been a fun and busy month (and it's not even over yet!) It is hard to believe that a year ago on Tuesday, Sean and I would have been heading to Korea! What a very very fast and Happy year!!

Pumpkin Patch

We wanted to get a camping trip in before the end of the year and thought that perhaps this last weekend might be our only chance. Yes, it was cold but we had a great time. Here are Cydney and Ian "practicing" their camping with their sleeping bags. Cydney helping Daddy set up the tent.
Sometimes help wasn't always the right word. :-)

We visited a pumpkin patch so that the kids could find the pumpkin that is calling their names. "What's that??!?!?" Ian's a little disturbed that pumpkins might be talking to him.... It is his first time in a patch. This pumpkin seemed friendly enough...it will come home with us. :-) We ended with some yummy apple donuts and apple cider. I love fall!!

First day of School

Today was Cydney's first day of 3 year old preschool. She was soooo excited! We picked a preschool that is just a few blocks away so that we can walk there. She ran the whole way there and I had a hard time keeping up with her. :-) She had a fantastic time. She said the teacher didn't get mad at her and she had only one complaint that someone had pulled her hair. So perhaps we need to do braids or a bun. :-)

Ian had his 18 month check up yesterday and got a good report. He did have to get a couple of shots. He still amazes me that he only blinks when they give them to him. I guess when your daily tasks involve jumping off chairs face first onto the floor, a little needle doesn't hurt so much. :-) He's been saying a lot more words lately. "Snack, birdie, bus, Dadda, shoes." He is obsessed with shoes. I took the kids shoe shopping the other day and it was if I'd taken him to the biggest toy store ever! He just kept giggling as he pulled box after box off the shelves and tried each shoe on.
We've been blessed by the squash fairy this summer. Here are the kids with our HUGE squash. I finally had to start freezing some because we were all getting a little tired of it at every meal. :-)


This week it is apples. We picked 40 pounds of apples over the weekend at Papa's farm. So far we've made apple butter, but I think applesauce, apple bread, and apple pie filling are going to be in the works the next couple of days. We really need a bigger freezer and stomachs. :-)

Summer is flying by

It is hard to believe that school is supposed to begin soon and summer will be technically over. It has been a busy summer, with fun visits from family, vacation bible school and swim lessons. Here are some pictures that show just how much fun we've been having... Ian trying watermelon for the first time. Cydney playing with her cousins from Colorado. Celebrating Ian's first 4th of July with cousins at the Lake. Cydney learning to fish with Daddy.
Ian sharing a good laugh with cousin Delaney. It must have been a knee slapper.
Trying out some running shoes.
Playing video games with Uncle James.

Ian has learned how to climb and is keeping us on our toes. He can often be found sitting in a chair at the table waiting for a meal to be served. :-) Cydney is excited to be starting another set of swimming lessons tomorrow and is on her quest daily to wear a dress that twirls. It has been a great summer so far and we hope that you have had one as well.

First Family Vacation...

We're back! We took our first family of four vacation last week. We had a great time and Ian got to see and play in the ocean for the first time. I think he would have gone for a dip by himself if we'd let him. :-) Cydney also liked the water a lot more than the last time we saw the ocean. She even touched a sea anemone! That surprised me since I was trying to be brave and touch one myself. :-)
Here they are waiting with Daddy for a wave so that they can jump over it. We tried building sandcastles, although we got a little carried away with building a mote and both kids lost interest long before we did. Ian was more interesting in throwing rocks in the water anyway.
Here is Cydney and Uncle Michael on her first mountain climb. She was excited to still see snow! Here is Ian having a great time at the children's museum. Cydney's main focus on the trip was to see the elephants at the zoo. She kept asking, from the minute we stepped off the plane, where they were.
Don't let Ian's face fool you (he just fell in some cold water and is contemplating where he went wrong) we had a fantastic time! It was so good to see Uncle Michael, we can't wait to go see him again!!

Forever a Family!!

Ian is officially adopted!! Last Wednesday we had our day in court. It took about 20 minutes and it was a done deal. We must have answered all the questions correctly, because they agreed to let us keep him. :-)
It was a very happy day here in the Henson household! The little people didn't really understand, but the big ones did! How does Ian celebrate?Why by shopping at Cracker Barrel of course! :-) I swear he's a happy guy, it just seems when cameras come out...the smiles are hidden.

Being Ian's official forever family is something we've been looking forward to for a long time. Going to court hasn't changed anything at home, but we're sure grateful for what it stands for! We feel so blessed to be a family and are looking forward to forever!

6 months already?

Six months ago yesterday we arrived home with Ian. (disregard the date above...that's when I started writing this post...Nov. 5th is when we came home).I can't believe it has been that long already! Next week we're heading to the court to make our family official and legal. We've felt pretty offical for a long time now, Uncle Sam just has to have his say as well. ;-)
Yesterday also happened to be a holiday in Korea known as Children's Day. They celebrate the children by taking them somewhere fun, eating fun foods and getting presents for them. Here are the kids getting ready to go. We spent the morning with other families that have kidd-o's from Korea. It was a lot of fun. It is so great to see Ian toddling around with his adoptee buddies. Thank you to all the ladies who went to so much work to make it such a fun morning! Here they are enjoying their cupcakes.
Here is Ian practicing his social skills. His friend Drew is 7 days younger than him. Perhaps they were nursery buddies.

The kids discovered a fountain and sure got wet.

Here is Ian doing a headstand because he's so excited about playing in water. We all had a lot of fun.

I've started working on a Lifebook for Ian and for Cydney. A lifebook is pretty common in adoption circles. It is a book you put together for your adopted child that explains all you know about his past and how he/she came to be adopted. It is a good jumping off point for discussions about adoption. I'm making one for Cydney too. I underestimated how hard this task is. I'm also looking for possible ways to illistrate it. It may just be some stick people with smiles. I still have a long way to go.

Thank you for checking in. My appologies if you've been checking more frequently than I post. Perhaps this summer I'll have more time?? :-)