First Week of School

We had a great first week of school! The kids were all up early and did their chores without complaint and were usually at their desks by 8:00. They know that there is no video games or tv until after lunch, so if they finish school early, they can play outside. The weather has been perfect here in NC the past week. Windows open in the morning and not too hot!

Art with Abby was Wednesday and they learned about Giotto di Bondone, an artist from the 1200's who used chalk and egg yolks to paint. So she had them crush chalk and mix it with egg yolks to paint their pictures.
Reading about the ArtistMixing the paintPainting with egg/chalk

For History, Micah and Esther studied Betsy Ross. We are reading a chapter book about Betsy and also had some picture books about her life and the history of the American flag.
Micah put a stick on his flag and taped it in the living room. I guess he thought I needed a little more patriotic decorations in the living room!
The also made a flag cake. They had fun cooking and it was really good for lunch that day.

We also saw some interesting learning instruments around here. Did you know that pink head bands and yellow heart shaped glasses help you learn more? Me either!!

3 out of 4 of my sweet students working hard.

Happy 3 years in NC

We moved to NC three years ago today! It has been a very full 3 years and it has been a blessing to be here. The anniversary got me to thinking that we have also been in ministry 15 years this summer.

We began at a little church in Bassett, VA. Gospel Baptist Church. We drove up every Sunday from Winston-Salem where Greg was a Senior at Piedmont Bible College. They has no music so I took a few lessons and chopped out a hymn or two on Sunday morning. Since that was the extent of the special music, Greg usually preached the rest of the hour. ( about 50 min.). He got his preaching practice in every week for sure! And let me tell you..those pews were hard! They couldnt pay very much and I think we broke even ( or went under) paying for gas to go back and forth each week.

In July of 1997, we packed all our worldly possessions ( not very much!) and moved to Daniels, WV. I honestly don't know what made them unanimously call a 23 year old, fresh out of college Preacher and his pregnant wife, but they did and I will forever be grateful. God used that little mountain town and the sweet people in it to teach me so much about being a mama, wife and pastor's wife.

It was so many little things I was taught in my 20's and when you add them all up, they have made me much of who I am in my 30's. How to make a pie crust, a rum cake and chicken & dumplings, a love for primitive things and longaberger baskets, how to host a dinner party, how to put on a VBS and a church banquet...so many things. In fact, half of my recipe box is from my years in Daniels and the generosity of the sweet ladies sharing their knowledge with me.

Daniels was even instrumental in us being called to Goodwill Baptist and moving to Kernersville. A man that had been Greg's mentor in WV, Preacher Joe, had moved to Kernersville and joined Goodwill and when their pastor resigned he recommended Greg and even had a mutual friend of ours try to find us in FL to contact him about coming to NC.
Here is a photo of us on our third anniversary at Daniels, WV. They made us feel so loved every year that we were there and always had a lady whose mother went to our church make a gorgeous cake. Abby was 3 and Nate was 3 months! Little did we know Esther would be making an arrival 15 months later!

and here is our family now

15 years in ministry isn't a very long time compared to others and I hope we will be able to continue to reach 20, 30 ,even 50 years as a couple ministering together for the Lord. The people we have met and the places we have been able to go have been such a blessing and I honestly wouldn't want to have any other life. I am thankful to have been given the gift of a wonderful and wise husband that loves the Lord and loves his church family.

So Happy Ministry Anniversary Greg Mullis. Thank you for following the Lord and His calling and thank you for letting me join you on this wild and crazy ride!

First Day of School

Our very first day of school was today. In keeping with tradition, we took a picture of each student. One of the newer things in our homeschool this year is Greg is going to be taking over all the math. Even after one day, I can tell this is going to be a huge relief for me. Math is not a strong subject for me and having an 8th grader and a 6th grader..it is getting harder. Abigail Grace Mullis ~ 8th grade~ Abby is doing

Math U See - Algebra

Apologia General Science

Total Language Plus ( The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom is her first quarter book)

A study of David for Bible

US History

French

She is teaching Art Appreciation on Wednesday's ( Affectionately known as "Art with Abby" ) to her brothers and sisters every Wednesday

A yearly nature journal

She is finishing up the Chronicles of Narnia for extra reading

She is also playing volleyball and basketball this year for the FHE Hawks, active in our church's youth group, in the 4H Trailblazers Club and participating in yearbook and film-making at our ACE club co-op.

Nathaniel Morgan Mullis ~ 6th Grade ~ Nate is doing:

Math U See

Answers in Genesis Animal Science

US History

Total Language Plus ( The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe is 1st quarter)

Early History of Israel for Bible

Beginner Greek

Yearly Nature journal study

Art Appreciation

Nate is planning to play basketball at the YMCA this winter. He is also moving up into our church youth group. He is the Chaplain of the 4H Trailblazer club. He is going to be playing basketball and having fun in a "Nerf War" class at ACE Club Co op.
Micah Gregory Mullis ~ 5th Grade ~ Micah is doing:

Math U See

Draw to Learn the Book of Proverbs for Bible

Spelling

A Reason for Writing

Abeka Phonics

Language

The Magic School Bus for Science

Famous Americans for History

Art Appreciation

A Yearly Nature Journal

Micah will be on a soccer team for KSA ( Kernersville Soccer Association) , he will be in Pioneer Clubs at church, in the Trailblazer 4H club and is going to join the Basketball and Nerf War classes at ACE Club.
Esther Hope Mullis ~ 4th Grade ~ Esther will be doing:

Math U See

Draw to Learn the Book of Proverbs for Bible

Spelling

Abeka Phonics

BJU Press Reading Books

Spectrum Language

The Magic School Bus Science

Famous Americans for History

Art Appreciation

Esther has decide to take off a year from dance, but she will still be active in Pioneer Clubs and our 4H club. She is taking a Fun with Yarn and an Art Class at Co-op. We are also on the lookout for some art workshops clinics she can take throughout the year because she loves art!
Sarah Faith Mullis ~ At Peace Academy's most adorable Mascot ~

Between naps, Miss Sarah Faith eats bananas and cherrios, pulls block and books off shelves, crawls around the house, watches Seseme Street and tries her level best to distract the students with her cuteness!

Back to school Cake

We had a back to school bash with burgers, fries and cake. We start back tomorrow. Cant believe I will have a 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th grader!!

Happy 11th Birthday Micah!

Micah's 11th birthday is today! We have been talking about his birthday for a few weeks now and have been counting down, but I am not sure he really understood it until today. He woke up to a giant breakfast that Abby and Nathan helped me fix. After breakfast, we let him open his cards from our Florida Family. He was a little excited to see the cash in the cards! He has decided he needs a "fast bike" like Nathans and so he is saving his money. We are going to Va tomorrow night and he will get to celebrate a little more with my parents!
Excited about the cash!The only thing he said he wanted from us is a spider man mask. Well, we found a whole costume complete with a muscly chest. He was giddy about that and went right to his room to put it on.
After breakfast, we loaded up and went to the mall. Micah has been sleeping with Nathan's build a bear animals and switching them around, but he liked Nathan's monkey. We took the monkey with us and went to Build a Bear workshop. As soon as we walked in and he understood, he went straight to a black bear and chose him.
Sewing up Baloo the black bear. He also picked out a soccer outfit for him complete with shoes. Heading home with the bear!
Josh and Reid came over this afternoon and Micah opened gifts from them and they stayed to eat Ethiopian food with us and loved it! I made Doro Wat, Mesir Wat, Dinich Wat, Gomen Wat and Ethiopian cabbage. Yummo! Even my injera turned out pretty good.

The cake Micah picked out was an Avatar the last Airbender cake. This is his very favorite show on tv and he has watched all the episodes on Netflix. It was really good too!

So in true blogger fashion her are 11 things I love about my Micah:

1. your sweet smile

2. Your awesome bear hugs. They are so tight I can hardly breathe!

3. Your funny sense of humor and how you crack us all up

4. Your determination to accomplish a skill. You learned to swim in a day and pick up sports so quickly.

5. The way you love your brother Nathan

5. Your sense of fairness. You want to make sure everyone is getting the same amount, even if it makes you get less than.

6. The way you are learning English

7. How much fun it is to feed you. You make a mama that likes to cook happy.

8. How you look out for Sarah Faith.

9. How curious you are about church and the Lord.

10. How brave you are. Is there anything you are afraid of?

11. How happy and proud I am to call you my son. I love you Micah Gregory Chernet Mullis.

Girl's Beach Trip

Take 3 friends from college, add 2 little girls, a baby and a teenager , stir them all up and send them to the beach and guess what ya get? Lots of laughs and lots of fun!
I was able to go to Sunset beach with two of my friends Amy and Teresa. We were only gone for a few nights, but we had so much fun. The girls all did so good too. I think we only embarrassed them a little bit! :)This was Sarah Faith's first visit to the beach and while she wasn't too sure about the sand, she loved the water and the sunshine. It was HOT! Too hot for this mama., but SF loved it! We brought her a little pool to splash around in and she also took a nap on me at the beach both days.She also discovered french fries on this trip. Oh my! She could not get them in quick enough!
Amy and Abby waiting for our shrimp..

Chloe and Esther playing on the way! They were so fun together and got along really well. The tried on each others clothes and had photo shoots. Too cute!

Sunset Beach, NC

We also decided on the way home that we need to make this an annual thing.. :)

Older child tips

I wanted to give you some tips that have helped us in transition with Micah since I know there are so many others adopting older children ( praise God!) A lot of this I gathered from other moms and it has held true and some I have just had to trial and error it. I have only been at this 6 weeks so I can only tell you what is working for us so far.....

Expect to deduct a year to two years from their age and that is how they act. Micah is more like an 8 year old than a ten year old. In some ways,,he is an old soul, but others, he gets excited, pouts & plays like someone much younger. He likes things fair. Even if it is not his way as long as he sees it as fair ( like taking turns choosing a video game with his brother) then he is ok.

When in country, we took an ipod loading with worship music and earbuds and also sunglasses. When he was out and started to get overwhelmed with all the changes happening he would put the glasses on and the earbuds in. It was a lifesaver. He was able to process and what better way than with praise music in your ears? I shared that with another mom and she agreed it was great for her two as well.

He will literally watch tv or play video games all day long. If there is a choice that is what he wants to do. It has been SO HOT that we have let him do more of that than I really like, but I just have to tell him to go outside and ride his bike or play soccer or he will be a real couch potato.

He likes to watch the same movie over and over. In Ethiopia it was The Jungle Book and the Incredibles. It about drove me crazy, but he picked up quite a few english phrases from those movies. I think it is just safe to know the ending of a movie. Anyway...chose carefully what you want to have to watch 10 times over. :)

Routine is so important. Like making beds in the morning and bedtime stories and prayers at night. We can see security in that.

Avoid big places like walmart and malls. At least for Micah, he will shut down in big places.

It seems like all kids will favor one parent or the other. For us it was Greg that Micah clung too. So I became the food/gum lady. If he wanted snacks or gum, he had to ask me...that helped me win trust and favor.

I had another mom that was over in ET before us inbox me about some of Micah's behavior that was not so nice. It sent me SPINNING IN A PANIC. 6 weeks home and he is not the angry child she described. Now, I can see where he could get that way if things are not handled fairly, but you just cant judge them by what is happening in the TH and especially if you are not there to witness it yourself.

The famous Ethiopian pout will rear its head now and then, but we will just say, that is fine just take it outside or in your room...pout all you like, but when you come back to the family area, we want you to be happy and no pout.

Charades really do work. :)

Foods he likes best are taco meat, chicken and rice, bananas, eggs and soft tortillas, ice cream are his favorite.

I hope this helps those preparing and if you have any other tips to add, please feel free to leave them in the comments.

Summer Lovin

Couldnt you just eat her up?

Family Fun Nights

Last summer I stumbled across a blog where the family set aside a few nights a month and did "family fun nights". This is where you have a theme and everyone dresses as the theme and eats food , plays games & watches a movie that has to do with the theme. I thought it was a great idea especially for when Micah came home to teach him some American-ish things without overwhelming him out in public. So, I set to work on some plans ( I do love my planning!) and we even tried a few last summer. I now have a yearly plan and we will see if it works. Micah may just be total confused by us crazy Americans or it may be a lot of fun! Here is my list for the year. We will start in August. I will make sure and post some pictures of our fun!

Family Fun Nights

January

Theme: Backwards Night

Clothing: Backwards clothes

Dinner: Cupcake meatloaf and ice cream mashed potatoes

Activity: Backwards word games

Movie: Freaky Friday

Snack: Pineapple Upside Down cake

Theme: Hawaiian Luau

Clothing: Floral and tropical

Dinner: pineapple chicken, rice and pina coladas

Activity: belly dancing

Movie: Lilo and Stitch

Snack: Pina Coladas

February

Theme: Valentine and Daddy’s birthday

Clothing: Red and Pink

Dinner: Greg’s Favorite

Activity:Skit for daddy

Movie: Jungle Book ( daddy’s favorite)

Snack: Birthday cookie

Theme: Beachy Keen

Clothing: Bathing suits

Dinner: Shrimp and grits, clam chowder and shells and cheese

Activity:Play go fish

Movie: Little Mermaid or Surfs up or Nemo

Snack: Blue jello with gummy fish

March

Theme: Rainbows

Clothing: Colors of the rainbow

Dinner: Kabobs, fruit salad, fun rice

Activity: Rainbow art

Movie: Wizard of Oz

Snack: Skittles (taste the Rainbow)

Theme: St. Patrick’s Day

Clothing: Green or gold

Dinner: Green soup and green milk

Activity: Shamrock scavenger hunt

Movie: Veggie Tale St. Patrick Story

Snack: Shamrock Shakes

April

Theme: April Fool’s Day

Clothing: Mis match

Dinner: Fake out food

Activity: Role reversal

Movie:

Snack: cupcake

Theme: Circus

Clothing: Clown noses

Dinner: Clown pizza, ice cream cone cupcake( Clown hat)

Activity: Tightwire walker

Movie: Dumbo

Snack: Animal crackers and circus peanuts

May

Theme: Baseball

Clothing: Baseball hats and shirts

Dinner: hotdogs, chips, peanuts and gatorades

Activity: Wii Little league

Movie: Everybody’s Hero

Snack: Cracker jacks

Theme: Graduation

Clothing: Cap and gowns

Dinner: everyone can pick one item

Activity: Pomp and circumstance and summer activity box

Movie:

Snack: Graduation cookies

June

Theme: 1/2 way to Christmas!

Clothing: Red and Green

Dinner: Turkey, stuffing, Mashed Potatos, green beans, cranberry sauce

Activity: Make Christmas cookies

Movie: Elf

Snack: Christmas Cookies

Theme: Dr. Suess

Clothing: Suess hats..crazy socks

Dinner: Green eggs (deviled) Ham and poodles with noodles pasta salad

Activities: pin the wocket on the pocket..Read everyone fav books

Movie: Horton Hears a who

Snack: Thing one and thing two hair ( blue cotton candy in red cupcake liners

July

Theme: Caveman

Clothing: Something brown

Dinner: Dinosaur eggs ( meatballs) bone shaped rolls

Activity: Dye “dinosaur eggs”

Movie: Ice age

Snack : Dinasaur eggs candy

Theme: Watermelon

Clothing: red, green or black

Dinner: Green rice, bbq chicken, black beans

Activity: watermelon bobbing, seed spitting

Movie: Veggie tales Minnesota Cuke

Snack: Watermelon gum and watermelon italian Ice

August

Theme: Smurf Night

Clothing: Blue

Dinner: Blue Jello, mushroom appitizers, Blue corn chips nachos

Activity: Color smurf contest

Movie: Smurfs

Snack: Smurf food

Theme: Back to School Night

Clothing: Anything

Dinner: Bag lunched ( sub, chips, apple, chocolate milk)

Activity: school supply scavenger hunt

Movie: High school musical

Snack: back to school sheet cake

September

Theme: Lets Go Gators!!

Clothing: Orange and Blue

Dinner: Pizza puffs, nachos, touchdown dip, hot wings

Activity: Go Gator poster

Movie: Gator Football

Snack: Gator brownies

Theme: Camp out night

Clothing: camping

Dinner: Hot dogs roast outside

Activity: make smores and tell ghost stories

Movie: Camp rock or parent trap

Snack: Smores

October

Theme: Fall

Clothing: Orange

Dinner: Soup and corn bread

Activity: nature walk in the graveyard and carve pumpkins

Movie: Great pumpkin Charlie brown

Snack: pumpkin bars with cream cheese icing

Theme: Chocolate

Clothing: Brown

Dinner: Chocolate chili with chocolate muffins

Activity: candy land tournament

Movie: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Snack: Wonka Bars

November

Theme: Pajama night

Clothing: Pj’s

Dinner: Breakfast

Activity: Read everyones favorite bedtime story

Movie: Bedtime Stories

Snack: cookies and milk

Theme: Mexican

Clothing: Sombreros

Dinner: Tacos, beans and rice

Activity: Homemade pinata

Movie: Beverly Hills Ch.

Snack: Churros

December:

Theme: Winter Wonderland

Clothing: Scarves

Dinner: melted snowman potato soup , snowball cookies

Activity: Snowball fight

Movie: Happy Feet

Snack: Hot chocolate

Theme: Happy Birthday Jesus

Clothing: Red and Green

Dinner: Pizza (give the Pizza man a BIG tip)

Activity: Cards for Pizza man

Movie: Charlie Brown Christmas

Snack: Happy Birthday Jesus big cookie