On Our Knees

There are those times when, as humans, we're humbled by events that knock us flat on our faces. But then there are other times when, as Christians, we're humbled by God...who brings us down to our knees with displays of His great power. And right now, Josh and I are in the midst of one of the most humbling times we can remember ever having experienced in our 13 years of dating and marriage.

When we share with people the fact that we're adopting a baby, we're occasionally met with words that say "Good for you" but are matched with looks of "You've gotta be kidding me". It's hard for some to understand that this journey that we're on is about so much more than just adding another tiny tot to our crew. If we were only looking to grow our family, we could certainly do it in more time-efficient and economical ways (we did have three children in just over three years, mind you!).

But this is way bigger than that. It's bigger than having four children, and it's certainly bigger than Josh or Allison Lewis. It's about asking God to make Himself known to us -- and the heart He's revealed. It's about asking God what He wants our lives to look like -- and the path He's set forth.

And at the deepest core of the matter, it's about knowing what God says...and wanting to listen and act.

I still find it curious that so many people are put off by the fact that we would invest as much money as we have into adopting a baby. But to help explain, let me share with you a change that God has made in our hearts over the past year...

Now bear with me on this one, but I relate it all to being a personal shopper. (Seriously, don't check out...this is good!) If I'm a personal shopper, and a lady gives me $500 along with the task of buying her a new dress, new shoes, and a purse, you better believe that I'm going to do my very best to abide by her wishes (although I'm not sure Kohl's would have exactly what she's looking for!). My goal in that situation would be to spend the money in the way she asked. I wouldn't use her cash to bring back a bunch of stuff she didn't ask for. Or worse, I certainly wouldn't just keep her money for myself and come back with nothing at all to offer her.

Ridiculous scenario, huh?

We might think so, but we do the same thing every single day with what God has entrusted to us.

He blesses us with money and tells us to feed the hungry (Isaiah 58:7, Matt. 25:35-46) and to care for the poor (Exodus 23:11, Deut. 15:7-11, Prov. 14:31, Prov. 19:17, Prov. 21:13, Prov. 22:9, Prov. 28:27, Isaiah 58:7, Matt. 19:21) and the fatherless (Deut. 10:18, Deut. 24:19-21, Psalm 82:3, Isaiah 1:17, James 1:27). But time and time again, we take the blessings He's given us, and we use them only on ourselves. What do we have to offer God?

If you read those verses, you can see that God's pretty serious about wanting us to take care of those who are defenseless or in need. He didn't politely request it. He commanded it.

Now please hear me when I say that I'm not for one second insinuating that adoption is the way to go. Or that you have to adopt to display obedience to God. That's simply not true. But the fact of the matter is, God does tell us to take care of orphans. The beauty of it, though, is that obedience to that can take on countless different forms in believers' lives.

Which brings me to my whole point tonight.

While God has put it on our hearts to adopt, it's been nothing short of amazing to watch how He's led other people we know to do just as much to care for children who have no families...just in a different way. We know of people who sponsor children through Compassion International, others who donate their time (or even their lives!) to work with children who have been orphaned (remember this post?), some who are foster families, and others who sacrificially give to any or all of these causes.

Take for example our precious friends...let's call them Peter and Andrea. Shortly after we announced that we were adopting, Andrea showed up at our doorstep (from another city) with an envelope in her hand. She told me to wait until she had left to open it. Once she had gotten in her car to drive back to her home, I opened the envelope to find a note of Scripture and encouragement...and a check. Josh and I were shocked, thrilled, and intensely humbled at the Godly love this couple had shown us. I immediately called Andrea's cell phone to tell her that she and Peter had done so much already for us through their continual encouragement and prayers and that we couldn't accept such a gift as what they had done.

And what she said was dramatically heart-changing for me: "Allison, it wasn't ours to begin with."

She reminded me that everything we have comes from the Lord and that they were simply being obedient in the way God had led them to use their blessings to bless others. Months went by, and Peter and Andrea continued to remind us that they were praying for us with each step we took in our adoption. Then last week, another envelope arrived (minus Andrea this time), and...you guessed it. A check. Actually it was two checks! It was really late at night when I opened the mail from that day, so I popped off some rambling, babbling mess of an e-mail to Andrea that told her, once again, how thankful beyond words we were for the gift of their friendship and the many ways in which they were supporting us.

Her response? "It wasn't ours to begin with."

Lord, give me that kind of obedience and faith!!

Then another something happened tonight that nearly took my breath away. The kids and I had gone to take dinner to a friend who had had surgery earlier in the week, and when I arrived home, I was in a mad rush to get our dinner ready so that Josh could run in from work, eat really quickly, and then dash back out for class tonight. I had my blinders on, and I was oblivious to anything that didn't relate to my oven.

A few minutes later, Josh walked through the front door and said, "Allison..."

"Hold on, honey, I'll be there in a second," I responded.

He said my name again, this time with a little more urgency. As I walked toward him, he handed me this...

This note had been taped to our front door with a gift that, once again, brought us to our knees in thanksgiving to God. This last month was a doozy for us financially. Seminary tuition/books and large adoption-related expenses were, alone, enough to make our stomachs turn a bit. We kept crying out to God for provision (clinging to Matt. 6:26), and guess what? The gift of our dear, secret friends provided exactly what we needed to make ends meet this month.

They followed God's leading, and it's making a difference in our lives...as well as helping to radically change the life of a precious baby in Ethiopia with whom we're deeply in love.

That's what I call James 1:27 in action!!

So to Peter, Andrea, Sneaky McGee (you know who you are), and the many, many others who have prayed for, supported, and encouraged us, we love you dearly, and we're asking God to bless you many times over for the ways you have honored Him by loving us and our new baby.

Six and Counting

The kids and I had a super-duper fun surprise today...my sister, Bethany, and her family stopped by to visit for a little while this morning. Our little ones hadn't met Samantha yet, and they were absolutely smitten with their newest cousin as soon as they saw her.

Abby was particularly in love with her little feet. :-)

Now most families ease into growing their family tree. They add a branch here or there every so often, and the tree gradually takes shape.

Yeah, Bethany and I didn't do it that way.

Our parents' family tree went from looking like a seedling to one of Yosemite's finest in a matter of a few years. In late 2004, our parents welcomed their first grandchild (Abby); then during a six-week period in late 2006, they added two more (Jack and Brayden). Just over a year later in early 2008, they were blessed with yet another two (Isabel and Emma). Bethany and Bailey took care of 2009 with the addition of Samantha, and we plan on covering 2010 with our newest baby.

We're running out of couch! But enough about our Giant Family Sequoia -- let's talk more about the littlest branch. Bethany and I were planning on getting together later this week for Sam's newborn pictures, but since they were here today, we went ahead with the session. Unfortunately, the pediatrician's office called, and they had to run, but we got a few sweet shots before they took off.

How precious is she?!?

The Sliding Door and a New Generation

One of the most common questions we get about bringing our new baby home is "Where is everybody going to sleep?" Our social worker even had to submit a report to the Alabama Department of Human Resources as part of our home study addressing that very issue.

It hasn't been as cut and dry a decision as you might imagine, though. Part of deciding on the sleeping arrangements for our four little ones depends on the bed to crib ratio we have at the time our baby comes home (and the timing depends on a million and one circumstances that are completely out of our control). In the last three years for our children, we've had one crib, then one crib plus one bed, and finally, two cribs plus one bed.

Take the DHR requirement for only same-gendered children to share a room, mix it with a splattering of cohabiting siblings (one of whom is spilling out the sides of his baby crib), and throw in the strong recommendation of nearly all adoption professionals that you keep your newest little one in the room with you at night for at least the first few weeks -- and you've got a recipe for one confusing bedroom equation!

So after about fifty different arrangement ideas, we think we've finally got it -- the whole plan boils down to Jack getting a big boy bed.

Not only does that give Jack some much-needed leg room (although he loves his crib and would probably stay in there until he starts kindergarten), but it also frees up a baby bed for the next Lewis little man.

Josh immediately knew where he wanted to go to get Jack's first big boy bed. It's a little place called Pam's Attic. It was a bit dark, and they keep it really hot in there -- but hey, the goodies are free, so I'm not complaining!!

Okay, okay -- Pam is Josh's mom, and yes, we literally got the bed out of the attic in her house. It was Josh's bed when he was a little boy, and he was thrilled to be able to pass it along to Jack! We picked the bed up while we were in Marietta last weekend, and we decided today that we just couldn't wait any longer to set it up. And it's certainly safe to say that Jack was lost in a bit of Boyhood Wonderland when we got it ready for him this morning.

You can barely see it in the picture above, but the headboard of the bed has a little sliding door that covers a cubbyhole in the center of the bed. Jack's not exactly known for his subtle movements, which explains how he kept yanking the door off whenever he tried to open and close it. I mentioned to Josh the possibility of just leaving the door off, and with an expression that greatly resembled a mix of shock and pity over my girly lack of understanding, Josh replied, "But Al, you can't do that. It's a secret compartment!"

Needless to say, the door stayed. (I'm now imagining all the early mornings I get to wake up with Jack standing half an inch from my face wanting me to come fix the door on his secret compartment so his cars and trucks can go back inside.) :-)

Once my ticket to Eternal Early Mornings was full, Jack took to stacking some of his favorite books on the shelves. He worked with an attention to detail that I'm not sure I've ever seen in our sweet ball of energetic chaos.

And when he was done, he had quite the little setup...

...and he was ecstatic over getting to take a nap in his new big boy bed.

Even Izzy thought it was a grand idea!

I would love to show you the final product, but Jack's getting some fun firetruck bedding for his birthday at the end of the month (shhhhh, it's a secret)...

...so I'm going to make you wait to see the new setup.

Happy Labor Day!!!!

The Weird, the Wacky, and the Wonderful

Today started out like most other Sundays. Josh woke up at the crack of dawn to drive downtown with a serving ministry from our church to feed a group of men and women who depend on the group's weekly visits. The kids and I got up shortly after he left to get ready because I had to be at church early for band practice. There was the morning service, lunch, naps, school, and church again -- it was the typical framework of a normal Sunday around here.

But there were words and happenings that kept me smiling or laughing almost the whole day long, so let me share a few of the gems from the Weird and Wacky Department...

When we got home after church this morning, Abby and I were chatting about what she learned in Sunday school. She was happy to share all about the lesson, but what she was really jazzed to talk about were the new goodies they had eaten for snack time -- vanilla wipers (known to most of us as vanilla wafers).

Our church is clearly on the cutting edge of Children's Ministry Edibles.

Then this evening while Josh was at class, the kids and I were woofing down a quick bite for dinner before we joined him for church. Out of nowhere, Jack looked over at me and said, "Are you about ready to leave for church, Babe?" That boy will do anything to be more like Daddy!

But back to Abby and food (shocker), in her class tonight they learned the "Fruits of the Spirit" song. Do you know that one? "The fruit of the Spirit's not a coconut..." On and on it goes with motions and sound effects for each of the non-Spirit fruits. She got about 34 verses into the song (I never realized God made so many varieties of fruit...or that someone actually wrote a song that included each. and. every. one of them), and then she suddenly stopped singing and looked at me with a perplexed expression on her face. She said, "Mommy, I didn't know what one of the fruits was that we sang about tonight." I asked her which one, and she replied, "Kee-weed."

Ahh, yes. That one.

But not everything from today has been odd or goofy (although this outfit of Abby's definitely does fall into that category)...

Apron over ballet tutu over jammies --smashing!

There have been plenty of Wonderful times today as well. Take, for example, Jack's sweetness when I walked out of the bathroom from getting dressed this morning for church. He looked at me from the other side of the room and said, "Oooh Mommy...you look booteefull!" (Come to think of it, that was either a precious, unexpected compliment from Josh, Jr. -- or Jack was hinting that my new pants didn't do much for me).

But something from this evening definitely wins the award for the most heart-warming event of the day. Each night, we all sit together as a family in the kids' room and pray just before they go to bed. Josh finished praying and Abby said that she would like a turn. She tells us all the time that she prayed for so-and-so or that she talked to God about something-or-another, but it's a fairly new thing for her to pray for what's on her little heart out loud during our family prayer time.

Abby said a pure and beautiful prayer that covered everything from thanking God for the ways that He's blessed us (and she named several specifics) to asking Him to help some friends of ours get their car back quickly (it's in the shop because of a little unleaded-gasoline-versus-diesel-engine incident from earlier today). No sooner had Abby wrapped up her prayer than Jack asked if he could pray as well.

We were excitedly anxious to see what our almost three-year-old little guy would pray about, and what came next had our bellies laughing -- and our hearts melting. When we're praying with the kids, we typically say something to the effect of "Please protect our family tonight" or "Please keep our family and friends safe". While you've got to give him points for using his manners, Jack got a bit confused and kept saying "You're welcome give us a good night" or "You're welcome something-or-other about a train track" (we never quite got that one).

The best part came, though, when he said, "You're welcome keep our baby safe in Aff-kuh".

Be still, my heart.

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Matthew 19:14

As tempted as I am to close this post right now (I mean, that's absolute perfection, if you ask me!), the night certainly didn't end there. There's one more hoot of a story to share from the W & W Dept.

Sometimes on the weekends, we let the bigger two kiddos "sleep" in Abby's bed. It's all a bit of a joke, really. We turn the lights out, they lay in bed for 15 or 20 minutes talking and laughing, we go in and put Jack back in his crib, and then they quickly fall asleep. But as you can see, they think it's a scream to at least start out together...

So we played along, and while Josh went to our room to take a shower, I came downstairs to get some work done. But as I got toward the bottom of the staircase, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye.

Something hopping.

Yes, my friends, there was a frog in my living room!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Oh please, don't even act like you're surprised I took a picture of it.)

Had you asked me this morning what I would do if I found a brown and green amphibian leaping through my house, I would have answered you with squeals of disgust. But coming off such a funny day and a precious time with my family, this little guy just made me laugh. Come on, look at him...

You've got to admit that's funny! I'm actually having trouble typing because I'm laughing so hard!!! (Of course, that might have something to do with how late it is and how worried I am that you're going to think I have a nasty house.) :-)

I was a little concerned that I would lose him if I ran upstairs to get Josh (because clearly, I was not going to be the one to get him out of the house), so I yelled upstairs for Abby to get Josh. She asked what was wrong, and I told her there was a frog in the living room. I couldn't hear Josh's end of the conversation, but I heard Abby say something through the door -- then silence -- then her loudly saying, "A frog!"

Silence.

Then she yelled, "Yes, Daddy...a FROOOOOGGGGGG!"

I told Abby to get Jack up and they could come down and see our visitor. It doesn't get much better than this for a little boy.

While Josh figured out how to catch "Willy" (Abigail's name of choice), the kids looked on in utter amazement (mixed with just a pinch of fear)...

Josh took the Contain & Then Re-Evaluate approach, so the kids had plenty of time to watch Willy hop around inside his temporary trap.

And not that we would ever do this, but if I were to theoretically distract the kids while Josh theoretically snuck through the school room and behind them to theoretically yell "RIBBIT!", this would be the picture you would see before the theoretical moment of surprise.

Hee-hee.

Remember what we talked about last night, Mom? I'm thinking Bethany and I might have our first character...

WILLY! :-)

A Special Session

It's taken us a while to hook up, but last weekend I finally got to meet with the winners of my first photography giveaway for our session. My friend, Kerry, actually won the contest, but in the spirit of giving, she chose to donate the session to a family in her church. I was excited about doing photos for a new family, but I was uber-pumped when Kerry told me this family's story.

Scott and Jamie Laslo operate an American non-profit called Pearl Ministries that exists to help care for orphans in none other than...Uganda!! What, you ask, is our connection with Uganda (when Ethiopia is the country from which we're adopting)? While it's correct that Ethiopia is the country we're adopting from now, that wasn't always the case. For the first portion of our adoption process, we were planning on adopting from Uganda. God made it clear to us that He was closing the door on that country and opening it to Ethiopia, but we certainly have a special concern for children who are sick, hungry, and hurting in Uganda as well.

All that is to say that I was thrilled to learn about the work that the Laslo family does for Ugandan orphans!! In an e-mail not long ago, I asked Jamie to tell me a bit more about the ministry, and rather than recap what she said, I thought it best to let her share directly from her own heart:

"Our official new mission statement is: partnering with American individuals, families and churches to help orphans and vulnerable children in Uganda, the Pearl of Africa, through gospel-centered, holistic development of family and community in partnership with indigenous ministries and churches.

Our primary partnership is with Ranch on Jesus Ministries, which was founded by my dear friend, Sarah Kamara. Sarah began taking vulnerable children into her home in 2001. Her husband, Theophilus, was unemployed at the time and their daughter, Martha, was a baby. In faith, Sarah began ministering to children in her home and she eventually founded a primary school that offers scholarship programs for needy kids. (School isn't really free in Uganda, so many kids don't go.) I met Sarah in 2004 on a college missions trip and the Lord made it very clear he wanted me to do something very specific to help her. I didn't really have any concept that it would grow this big! Anyway, I was terrified to ask for money so I had a yard sale at my church that raised $7,000. That was a confirmation of God's blessing on our work and the beginning of the partnership. Sarah's husband became a Christian and is currently the director and largest donor to the ministry. Sarah and Theophilus take nothing from Ranch. Theophilus runs his own business and works for a water NGO in addition to running Ranch (he doesn't sleep much). Isn't that amazing? They live very humbly (although they are middle class) so that they can invest into the lives of these children.

Scott and I founded Pearl in 2006 to keep assisting Ranch and hopefully expand our partnerships with a couple of other similar ministries to orphans at local Ugandan churches. Every church in Uganda takes in orphans. You may already know this-but over 70% Uganda's population is under the age of 17. And there are at least 1.5 million children who have been orphaned from AIDS alone. It is such a tremendous crisis and requires such tremendous intervention from God's people!"

You can read more about the incredible work they're doing at Jamie's blog, Ranched on Jesus. It's such an amazing gift to know how God uses the money He has blessed us with to bless others. That's what I love about this post that Jamie shared -- it's a descriptive account of exactly what $20 or $30 can do in a child's life right now in Uganda. We drop that kind of money everyday on scores of goofy stuff that do nothing to better our lives. But take that same amount and obediently move it into the hands of families who have given themselves to live out James 1:27, and suddenly, children's lives are changed. Forever.

But even more importantly, the kids learn about God and the unmatchable love He showed us through Jesus' death. For you -- for me -- for them.

Children's hearts are changed. Forever.

Scott's back in Uganda for a few weeks, so it was just me and the girls for our session (which worked out pretty well since these photos are going to be a surprise for Scott's birthday when he returns home). When they walked up, I was immediately smitten with sweet Vivian. She's the same age as Isabel, and her gorgeous red hair and blue eyes were to die for. I mean, look at that adorable curl!

But don't be fooled into thinking cuteness was all this little pint-sized tot had to offer. She was an absolute ham, and she had us laughing the whole session!!!!!!!!!!!!

This silly shot was one of my favorites from the whole day...

Vivian didn't slow down very much, but when she did, we were able to grab some sweet, sweet shots...

Jamie and Vivian are usually with Scott for their Ugandan stays, but they're going it alone here in the States this time. They make a pretty good team, but I know they're looking forward to when Daddy returns.

N

Refusing to take the fall for the sugar fiasco from earlier today if it wasn't actually my fault, I pulled the teacher's manual out to reread the lemonade instructions. "Now that you've sliced a lemon, consider making a glass or pitcher of lemonade. Try mixing two cups of water, three tablespoons of lemon juice and eight tablespoons of sugar."

Somebody really should teach me how to teach (or at least read).

While we're all laughing at the imperfection of today's class, let me share this little tidbit with you. The reading/phonics curriculum I had chosen for Abby came in too late to incorporate it into our first week of school, so we're just getting going with it. The first few lessons emphasize that regardless of where your child is academically, you should start with the basics -- as in the ABCs. Abby's been saying the alphabet (and recognizing letters) for quite a while now, so I thought about just dismissing the book's suggestion. But in the end, I decided Day One of the new curriculum was not the time to decide I was smarter than the teacher's manual.

We started by singing the Alphabet Song. A B C D E F G...on and on we went. Yes, Abby sang the middle section from L to P in the typical, slur-it-all-together, sloppy fashion of most four-year-olds, but I didn't think anything of it. Then we walked through the written alphabet letter by letter just to ensure that she knew her stuff.

All was going well -- until...H I J K L M O P.

I said, "Oh wait, honey. You missed one."

She repeated, "H I J K L M O P."

I giggled a bit and said, "Abby, you forgot to say the letter N."

"I know, Mommy. N's not in the alphabet."

I just sat there and stared at her. And she stared back.

"Abby, N is a letter in the alphabet. It comes right after M. Listen to me sing the Alphabet Song. ......LMNOP...... Did you hear it? L. M. N. O. P."

"No Mommy, N really isn't in the alphabet." She wasn't being disrespectful...she just felt strongly that what I was telling her was absolute hogwash. As far as she was concerned, I might as well have been trying to convince her that she had a banana sticking out of her nose. She just wasn't buying it.

What followed was hands-down the most ludicrous and maddening conversation I've ever had in my life.

Have you ever stood there staring at a tree, trying to convince the person with you that the tree really is there? Well, I guess I haven't either, but I have sat in school (of all places) with my child, both staring at the alphabet, trying to convince my wise pupil that the letter she sees right in front of her face actually belongs there.

Unfortunately, my reaction to extreme ridiculousness (is that a word?) is to laugh. And the more she pleaded with me to believe that N wasn't in the alphabet, the more I laughed. I'm usually perfectly capable of holding it together in front of the kids (as in today when Josh asked Jack if he had pooped in his pants, and he sang his response, "Yes, poop in my pants today. Poop in my pants tomorrow, too." So much for potty-training.), but the absurdity of our conversation not only got my giggle-box turned over, it violently jerked it upside down and dumped all of its belly-laughing contents out on the floor.

We finally hit a point that I simply couldn't take it anymore, so I took the next logical step, and we called Josh at work to have him convince Abby that N is in the alphabet. Josh took a very analytical approach and said, "Abby, is N a letter?" She agreed that it was. "And isn't the alphabet a collection of all the letters?" She affirmed that point as well. "So, then, if N is a letter and the alphabet is a collection of all the letters, doesn't that mean that N is in the alphabet?"

"No sir, Daddy."

SERIOUSLY?!?

I knew I had officially reached my Nonsense Discussion quota for the day, so I did what any self-respecting homeschool teacher would do at 3:00 in the afternoon -- I told Abby she couldn't have her snack until she agreed that N was in the alphabet.

Don't judge me, people. You have no idea how crazy that conversation was making me!!!

I'm sure you're woNdering how school has goNe siNce theN. ThaNkfully, Abby aNd I have come to aN agreemeNt that N Not oNly exists, but that it's a vital letter iN the alphabet, aNd she's slowly iNcorporatiNg aN extra member iNto her previous idea of a 25-letter setup.

Gracious.

Math/Science/Cooking 101

Back when I taught preschool special education, one of my favorite activities to do with the kids revolved around snack lessons. First of all, I was guaranteed a captive audience, and secondly, they were highly motivated to listen and learn. Most of my little ones were receiving speech and or occupational therapy, and cooking activities provided some of the best opportunities for learning and practice that we had all day.

Fast forward five years, take away 11 of the children and the 2 teaching assistants, and I'm at it again. But this time, it's with my own daughter, and I teach within our home and the context of our everyday lives around town.

But I still love cooking activities...

So imagine my glee when I was going through Abby's curriculum and found a snack lesson for one of the books we're reading right now (Lentil, for all you Five-in-a-Rowers out there). After a quick stop to Publix this morning for lemons and sugar, we were ready to tackle the lesson. In Lentil, grumpy Old Sneep sucks on lemons, and in turn, makes everyone's lips pucker up. As if right on cue, Abby asked why lemons make your mouth "squench up", so I eagerly said, "Let's head to the kitchen and find out."

The beauty of cooking activities is that they provide a fun, motivating, and hands-on lesson in just about every subject you can imagine. Today, we did some math and talked about the relationship between a whole, two halves, and four quarters...

Then we moved on to the question of the day and talked about science and human anatomy by learning about different types of taste buds. First sour (I think Abby gets it now)...

...then sweet.

We also learned about measuring, sequencing, following directions, and temperature, to name a few more. And in the end, we had a delicious glass of homemade lemonade to reward us for our work.

We did have one tiny glitch, but I think it actually worked in Abby's favor (at least in her eyes). Either I misread the directions (great teacher, huh?) or this recipe was actually for Homemade Lemon-Flavored Syrup.

We finally stopped adding sugar after the fifth cup (in only two cups of water) because my exceptional culinary skills were alerting me to the fact that the water was actually getting thick in consistency as we stirred. I debated on whether or not to tack on the last three cups the recipe supposedly called for (I'm totally leaving the door open for this being my misreading!), but in the end, we decided 2.5 cups of sugar for every cup of water was probably sufficient.

And besides, a sugar high can have its perks, right? After all, it only took me 23 seconds to type this whole post!!