Two Years, Y'all!!!

Hey y'all, guess what! OUR GIRLS HAVE BEEN HOME FOR TWO YEARS!!!!!!

Hey guys, guess what! I'M ACTUALLY BLOGGING!!!!!!

It's so crazy to me that our sweet daughters have been home for two whole years! It's gone by so fast and we all have made such great strides! I'm so proud of our girls and all the process they've made in all areas. It truly is evidence of God's grace.

Last time I blogged I mentioned that we had put all the children back in school due to starting our escape room business. This year all the kids are still in school and since we moved, they are in a new school which we love. The school is just up the road, so I take all the kids to school every morning after a 30 minutes of begging, pleading, fussing, crying and pure insanity. Sometimes the kids and not just me. Look, I'm NOT a morning person. I'm really not even an afternoon person but apparently that's not acceptable in real life. 

Brayden is 10 years old and in 4th grade. He's such a great kid. He does pretty well academically and apparently he does pretty well making all the 4th grade girls swoon as well. His hair is longer than mine and I had hoped after some comments from peers he might want to change that but apparently he's the Fabio of Blanchard Elementary and it's going really well for him. Whatever dude, just keep it clean and tangle free and your Momma won't say squat. 


Brayden also just earned his first degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. He endured hours of testing and did absolutely phenomenal. We are so proud of him! This was such a huge accomplishment for him, because  somewhere around his orange belt he wanted to quit. He begged to quit, but we pushed him to stick with it until the end and he did! If you see him out and about, give him a big high five because my baby is a BLACK BELT!!!

Khushboo is 9 years old and in 3rd grade. She has made tons of progress in her reading and math since she came home. It amazes me how much the young mind can adapt in such a short amount of time. She is a very sweet and compliant student. 

In other areas, we have worked very hard on using words to share feelings instead of keeping them all bottled up. We've also been working on helping her see that she can be a kid and not have to worry about everyone else like she did back in India. That being said, she is such a great helper and she never complains when we ask her to do anything. She still loves to clean. It's amazing to me that after two years we haven't broken her of this.

Kashila is 8 years old and in 3rd grade as well. School is her forte. She loves it! She is an extremely hard worker and always does her best, which of course means she is the teacher's pet. My only complaint is that she wants to do everything and gets very concerned when I don't feel the same obligation to participate. I'm probably not the best school mom. Too many kids for that.

Kashila is also doing Tae Kwon Do. She's reached high orange belt, and just as with school she works hard and does her absolute best. She's going to have a mean hit one day! Watch out boys! 

There are probably only two areas that we are working on with this one. The first is having to constantly remind her to mind her own sweet business and the other is to stop being so utterly absorbed in any screen she comes across. I swear that child will zone out on digital billboard if we are stopped in traffic long enough. She's such a sweet and joyful girl though. 

Asher is 7 years old and in 2nd grade. He started out the year very behind his peers but has probably made the most progress out of all the kids. I feel like his teacher has really made a concerted effort to help him excel and I'm so thankful for that. He has made huge strides in reading which makes this Momma's heart sooooooo happy because I thought we would strangle each other during reading lessons. 

He's also made huge strides emotionally. He still has his moments when his engine runs a little hot but he has done so well acknowledging his negative emotions and voicing them so we can help settle things down before they get too much to handle. I gotta say this improvement has made such a difference in the peace of our home. 

He played soccer for a second season. It was super entertaining to watch. He was the biggest kid on the team, all arms and legs with no real control over any of them. He earned the "Most Improved" award at the end of the season,m and he scored multiple goals (even though they don't "keep score") which made his Daddy super proud!

And last but not least, Rabina is 5 years old and in Kindergarten. She is doing pretty well in school but is still slightly behind her peers. I think a lot of this is because she's the youngest in her class both biologically and mentally. Her teacher is wonderful though. I thank God constantly that last year and this year Rabina has had patient and kind teachers who are super understanding. Oddly enough our new neighbor is Rabina's teacher from last year. We think she hides from us, but I really can't blame the woman. 

Rabina still struggles with behavior at home and school. Things are MUCH better, but we are still working on things. I mean, hey, she hasn't drawn on the teacher's computer monitor with permanent marker or pulled her pants down in front of the class, so that is a huge improvement! I'm working on my responses to her behaviors and constantly reminding myself that she IS only five and coming from a traumatic background on top of that. 

We've learned that Rabina struggles the most with change in authority figures. It's like she has to test the waters to see what she can get away with or how much control she has in the situation. It can be really frustrating, but we understand that these are typical survival behaviors remaining from her time in the orphanage. 

Personally, I've been very busy and under a lot of stress with our new business. We are right at the one year mark and we just closed our original location after we finished up our Halloween game. Summer was a pretty rough time for the business and we are still suffering for it, but I have full confidence that we will recover and progress. Being a small business is hard. 

After some recent reflection I've arranged with my staff for me to be home more for Lance and the kids. I have a great staff and now I feel like I can step away if and when it's needed. I think the kids really need me at home more and I think I need that, too. It's been so easy for me to fall into a pattern of distance and busyness and I recognize that hasn't been good for me or them. So, I'm working on my own improvements I guess you might say. 

Overall, I feel like the last two years have been amazing for our family. Yes, they have been hard and have come with lots of change and adjusting, but we have made it through what I believe is the hardest part. I'm sure we will have plenty of hard in the future, but all I can really do, as I look reminisce, is to fall on my knees and thank the Lord above for his goodness. I think about those days when we waited and prayed for what we have now. How can I not be overcome with gratefulness? I cannot imagine my life without these three girls! They were so undeniably meant for our family! They are without a shadow of a doubt 100% our daughters. I'm just glad we said yes despite all the reasons we should have said no. 

Well, I guess I've written enough. I should probably say Merry Christmas because I doubt I will blog again before the new year. Let's be real here. You're lucky you got this! I'll leave you with a couple of recent pictures (sorry for lack of pics... having some trouble getting them off my phones).

Until next time! -K