We passed court! Minte is ours!

We passed court yesterday! Now I will share some pictures of our newest addition!

Introducing Mintesinot Vander Hart!

This picture is really recent! Like 6-7 weeks ago, probably.

Look at his grin!

He loves this plane. Hey, check out his shoes! I didn't notice them before!

Babies look like angels when they're sleeping! I love this picture!

Cutie!

What are you lookin' at?

Big doe eyes!

We passed court yesterday!  Mom got the e-mail yesterday morning. Now we are waiting to hear from the agency on our travel date. Until then,we have a lot to get done! Shots at the doctor, painting, getting baby boy clothes, making frozen meals, just to name a few! But we are excited about this! Hooray! Now we can call him Mintesinot Gabriel Xavier Vander Hart! This is a big name for a little boy, so we will call him Minte or Min!

Yesterday

Let me share a funny story that happened yesterday...

First of all, Ana had  a church meeting in the family room yesterday. She gathered a lot of chairs and turned them towards the treadmill, (her stage). She next grabbed her dolls and sat them in the chairs with "hymnals" and everything. I was watching and mentioned to Ana that two of her dolls were just heads. (The kind of doll that are made so that you can do their hair). I asked Ana how they were supposed to move without arms and legs! She ignored me for a while, then answered in a disgusted tone, "That was how God grew them, Emily!"

I'm not going to go into the meeting... It was.. umm... interesting. And this interesting doesn't mean, "Let's learn more about it!" It mean, "Forget it AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!" Have I mentioned how Ana slaughters songs?... Yeah..

Basketball

Lucas and I are both playing basketball on homeschool teams. We have the same name, (the Cougars), and play the same position.

Lucas's season is doing pretty well, although it is wrapping up soon. Luke has tournaments in two weeks and then he's done. His team has won once. I'm not sure how many they've lost.

Lucas plays down under the basket and, (from what I've seen of the games), likes to catch it under there, do one or more dribbles, and try to shoot. He can't wait until he plays on JV next year. He's looking forward to more games, tougher games, and all the other things that come along with highschool basketball. Oh, and don't forget better refs! Hopefully...

As for me and my team, we have won 3 games and lost several, (not sure how many). Our season ends in early March so we have several games yet to play which will be fun. Our team is pretty good. We just need to look down floor, triple-threat, and not hurry things.

I played point guard last night for the first time, and not for very long, but it was very different! I usually stay down low. I like to post up next to the person guarding me and I like to box out people and screen. I also like to hit people with my hips!!!! (I get it from my mom)!

So this is how our basketball season is going. We are pretty busy. But I like it! In two weeks, Lucas has tournaments and I have four games all in one week! We will be extremely busy!

A sandbox

So have I ever mentioned to you that we don't do well with doing things right away? Well, here are some pictures that show this in two ways. First of all, you might notice that these pictures are new, but that they are taken when we actually had green grass. We take many pictures, but they never actually get on the computer until many months later. The next thing is that here Lucas is putting sand into that sandbox I was talking about in my first post in August.

Lucas made the frame, but didn't actually put it in the yard or put sand in it until November.

The sandbox still needs a secure top. That will be done in a couple years. Or never.

But, the kids really like the sandbox and that's the point.

 We had snow a few weeks later, so Ana and Ethan haven't had much playing time in it. :)

Doing Pumpkins, Part 2

This was Ethan's plan for his pumpkin. (Notice that there's a growth on the side of the pumpkin for where he ran out of room for his pumpkin)!!

He settled with this, though.

This was Ana's. When we're little, Dad and Mom ask us, "Do you want square or triangle eyes? Do you want a triangle or circle nose? What kind of mouth?" This makes it so much easier. Then they get old like Ethan and want something extoadinary.

This was my plan.

So Dad and Ethan got started.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE this picture. It's so cute. It's like a perfect father-son picture.

Ethan got to use a little knife this year.

Fortunately Dad isn't sticking the knife through at this time. Ouch.

FINISHED!

Meanwhile Mom is carving Ana's pumpkin as Ana finds other things to do. I actually had to MAKE her hold her finished pumpkin for a picture. After cleaning the pumpkin guts out, she was done.

Ana's finished pumpkin. Isn't it pretty?

Mine. You might notice that my pumpkin now has eyebrows, unlike my plan beforehand. I ALWAYS add more to my pumpkin then I started with just to make it look "nicer". It usually makes it look weird. It acually looked kinda nice this time. Last year I tried making an E in the middle. Mhmmm, yeah, that didn't work out so great.

Riddles

Lucas and my math teacher like to give us extra credit sheets over holidays. Over Thanksgiving she gave us a sheet of riddles. If we answered correctly we'd get some extra credit points. Here are some..

1. I have two coins totaling thirty cents, and one is not a nickel. How is this possible?
2. If a rooster sitting on the very top of a roof lays an egg, which way will it roll down, east or west?
3. It is possible for half of twelve to equal seven. Explain.
4. What is at the beginning of everything, at the end of time, and is always in between?
5. How much dirt, (in cubic feet) is in a hole 3 feet wide, 2 feet long, and 6 feet deep?
6. You throw away the outside, then cook the inside. You eat the outside of what's left, and then throw away the inside. What did you eat?
7. What occurs in every minute, twice in every moment, yet never in a thousand years?
8. How many 3 cent stamps are in a dozen?
9. An airplane carrying the U.S. Olympic Team crashes on the border of the United States and Canada. In which country would you bury the survivors?
10.A man rides into town on Friday. Three days later, he leaves, again on Friday. How is this possible?
11. Which is correct to say, "The yolk of the egg are white," or "The yolk of the egg is white?"
12. There are six ears of corn in a hollow stump. If a perfectly healthy squirrel carries only three ears out each day, how many days will it take to empty the stump?

So try to answer these riddles. Remember that if it's too easy, you're probably wrong.

Answers will be in the comment section below. Let me know how you did!

January 1, 2010

Can you believe it's 2010?? I know I'm gonna have trouble writing 1-4-10 on my papers Monday. It's going to be weird!

Dad, Mom, and all the kids but me went to our church's party on New Years Eve. They had a lot of fun. There were games, a ping pong match, and food.

I babysat twin one year olds and brought my friend, Rachel, with me to spend New Years Eve while the babies were in bed. We had a great time.

Have you made any New Year resolutions? Rachel and I came up with one. We are going to memorize Psalm 119 by the end of the year! The cool thing is that we are doing it together so we can urge eachother on.

Well, Happy New Year!