Update

Due to Eric's illness, Katie's surgery was postponed in Sept. We have now rescheduled her surgery with an excellent local physician. She'll have outpatient surgery on Fri. Nov 2nd at Cox South hospital in Springfield. I REALLY like her surgeon and I've worked with him for several years now. She will have to be in a cast/splint for six weeks after her surgery.

Love,
Lori for the Cohen family

Poem

I found this yesterday and I have been so moved by it. I have long loved Maya Angelou, as so many have, and she has so perfectly described my feelings about my faith in this poem.

Christians - By Maya Angelou

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not shouting, "I'm clean livin'."
I'm whispering "I was lost,
Now I'm found and forgiven."

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble
and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak
And need His strength to carry on.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed
And need God to clean my mess.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible
But, God believes I am worth it.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches
So I call upon His name.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner
Who received God's good grace, somehow!


Quote of the Day: "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." Nelson Mandela

Refrigerator Contest

Ryan came to me all distraught on Friday morning. "Mama, something terrible is happening."

I'm thinking his brother has stuck one of his Thomas Trains down his pants again, but he elaborates. "The My Refrigerator Contest on SproutOnline.com is over on October 15th!!!"

He is upset because he wants to enter this contest - he promptly spouts off all the rules and the possible prize of a computer being delivered to our house by a "special sprout friend" who he is convinced is Barney. Now I'm not sure Eric could handle it if Barney ever visited our house, as his dislike for this giant purple dinosaur is surpassed only his hatred of the Wiggles and Teletubbies/Boobah.

(I can't conceive that any of our friends or relations reading this would not know who these vital cultural icons of the toddler/preschool world are, but the "Sprout" television channel is PBS' kids channel that offers 24-7 kids TV. We only let the kids watch Sprout, Nick Jr. and Noggin and they watch WAY too much TV. We are trying to remedy this and to some degree, it is getting better.)

To continue the story, we brainstorm about ideas and I printed out a bunch of coloring pages from the website at work on Fri. am. Ryan spent all day coloring - with Katie and Alex's help.

Then I was up until late last night getting everything else cut out and assembled so that, this morning, we have created and submitted our masterpiece for the contest. I'm warning Ryan not to get too excited, that the chances of our winning are not too good. But, at least, disaster has been averted for now and he had a good time entering the contest.

Now if only I can get some sleep....

A Day Out With Thomas

The whole family trekked down to Oklahoma City on Saturday morning for A Day Out With Thomas. We had a train ride on Thomas and there were kids activities and photos with Sir Topamhat. It was a bit hot - but the kids loved it. They all got tattoos and balloon animals.
Then we went swimming at the hotel pool that night.

Sunday morning we went to the Oklahoma City Zoo. Katie loved the elephants. Alex most loved the playground and the new pink umbrella stroller we bought. He wanted to stay in it all day and refused to let Katie sit in it. She didn't seem to care much so we mostly avoided major squabbling. Ryan loved the cheetahs (he was fascinated by the fact that they are the fastest land animals - "you're kidding!" he said when I told him.) Then he started making up "poems" about each of the animals we saw. Mostly these were long monologues about whatever popped into his head at that given moment. This was all fine until Eric started making up poems about the animals and some un-called for comparisons were made between Mama and the pygmy hippopotamus.

I was fascinated by the gorillas - there were quite a lot of them in separated areas - two big silverback males and two babies. They were stunning and I could have watched them for hours.

The kids were really good on the 4.5 hour drive home and napped for awhile. I do think if I never see another episode of "The Wonder Pets" ever in my life it will be too soon.

Monday morning Eric took all three of the kids to school. Ryan said to him, "Hey Daddy, remember when we went to the zoo? It seems like it was just yesterday...."

More videos....

The kids saw the videos tonight and insisted we make more of them.

Here are my two favorites:

http://www.myabcadventure.com/index.htm?movieid=E30DB93E-78E6-4506-B960-5C631A8CF431

http://www.myabcadventure.com/index.htm?movieid=85D6EDBE-64EA-495A-A066-1DDFD8BEE58D


They had insisted on a Mama video - but I reserve the right never to post that one.

Lori

Adventure Videos!!!!

I have some wonderful videos to share.

These are a lot of fun....
My favorite one is the LAST one.



http://www.myabcadventure.com/index.htm?movieid=303080A9-5521-43E4-B26C-CE3ECD451CD9

http://www.myabcadventure.com/index.htm?movieid=AD7BA902-9E33-43FA-8DD1-F5CE5EAA95CF


http://www.myabcadventure.com/index.htm?movieid=B847881E-83DC-4DC0-B0A3-BA267587B057

http://www.myabcadventure.com/index.htm?movieid=12A9BF21-CA52-405C-8700-158F76E695A1


Lori

A New Site

Welcome! We are moving to this site now from our previous adoption journal, which alas, won't be available online any more after the first part of October.

Not much new to report from the Cohen household these days. We enjoyed the Dablemont family reunion yesterday as Katie met many relatives for the first time. She took it all in stride and seemed to enjoy the attention. They all enjoyed the sandpit and the playground and it took sometime in the bathtub to get all the sand out of their hair. (I caught them all laying down in the sand making "sand angels" - that was Ryan's idea.) Eric got to play some softball and performed well for being such an old guy.

Prior to this we had a wonderful visit with Aiya over the Labor Day weekend. We took the kids to the pool and played on the swingset a lot.

Ryan is enjoying preschool and is doing well. Katie and Alex go to a "Mother's Day Out" playtime two mornings a week and are also doing well. Eric is back at work at the Exceptional Pupil Co-op. He is a "Data Technology Consultant." (The kids thought this was Daddy Technology Consultant.) This is a PC term for Computer Guy.
He is a jack-of-all-trades at the Coop and has been a teacher, aide, implementor, and now computer guy. He does a wonderful job there and is well loved. He is also a wonderful part-time stay-at-home Dad now.

We are both still overwhelmed at times managing work and home life. I am chronically behind in just about everything. We are working hard at organizing and making improvements the very best that we can. We are both astonished beyond belief at the wonderful and incredible children God has given us.

Well, that it is it for now. The next big upcoming event is Katie's surgery on her hand.
Kate and Mama will go up to Columbia, Missouri on the 27th of September for outpatient (I hope) surgery on the morning of the 28th. We plan to come home the morning of the 29th.
While I am glad to be getting this over with, and I believe that sooner is better for her, I dread the pain and the uncertainty she will go through. We can certainly use good thoughts and prayers during this time.

Love to all,
The Cohens