A must steal from my buddy's blog...

I had to re post this. Thanks Buddy!

Apology in advance for all of you that I am offending by posting this. I am afraid- very afraid reading about the budget cuts that are REAL and HAPPENING NOW. They will affect MY family and MY CHILDREN and countless numbers of children and social services program, non-profit organizations... please people KEEP INFORMED:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/amendments/amendment_8_1_08.pdf

Please read page 29. This funding is set to be cut IN FULL. This funding helps cover programs in YOUR state like Child Protective Services, Foster Care, Adoption Support Services, Housing for adults who need assisted living services, child care for low income families, basically all TITLE XX programs will lose ALL their federal funding. If its left up to individual states to pay for these services- THEY WILL EVENTUALLY CEASE TO EXIST!

I know that these may not be your views- but you have no excuse to be uneducated on ALL the issues facing our country. All that seperates YOU and YOUR FAMILY from needing these programs and services is ONE CIRCUMSTANCE!


Wednesday, October 29, 2008

I Apologize in Advance - Only 6 Days to Go

I am almost at my limit. I spent years as an apathetic, self-proclaimed Democrat. I liked Bill Clinton better. I liked Al Gore better. Mostly, I just like them better than Republicans. I didn't pay much attention to politics because my world was no larger than my 900 square foot apartment near Kent State University or my teeny-tiny '91 Plymouth Colt with vinyl seats, a cassette deck, power nothing, and no a/c. I had cats, Camel Special Lights, and a boyfriend that liked getting lost in television and movies as much as I did.

My world exploded with the birth of my first child. It blew open a bit more with the birth of my second. After a divorce, a degree, exhausting but invaluable experience working with children and adults battling severe mental illness, and graduate education, my world seems endless. I'm like that lady at Hometown Buffet on Rib Night that tries desperately to put everything on her plate at once. I know I need to pick my battles and I know change begins with me and by doing little things that may add up. But dammit!!! This election is antagonizing me and making it really hard for me to sit still and be a good girl.

I want to SCREAM at people who say that all a 13 year-old girl who terminated a pregnancy that resulted from incestuous rape needed was Jesus. I feel my adrenalin surge when someone tells me that we need more God in our government and in our schools and that people on welfare are lazy. I am sickened by the hypocrisy! Are you telling me that there aren't CEOs and executives that don't collect salaries for doing nothing? There aren't security guards that sleep when they should be keeping watch? Yes? You're pretty satisfied with the stellar service you get from the rude little nasty-pants that works behind the counter at Dairy Queen? Because they are working, they are automatically superior to the single mother with two small children that were abandoned by their father? Of course there are those "lazy workers", though most of them are not. Just like there are welfare and public assistance recipients that intentionally dodge work...BUT MOST OF THEM DO NOT!!

Yesterday, I learned that President Bush proposed a $500 million cut in SSBG (block grants that fund social services such as childcare assistance, foster care, child abuse prevention education, adult assisted living programs, etc.) spending for 2009, and then PROPOSED CUTTING SSBG COMPLETELY OUT OF THE BUDGET FOR 2010! Are all of you single-issue voters who are choosing McCain/Palin because of their Pro-Life position paying attention? Chances are you voted this way before. How'd that work out for you? Did you pray that we would elect a president that would spend $10 billion a month on a war in Iraq? Did you pray that we would elect a president that would propose cutting funding for services that protect over 10,000,000 endangered children? I'm so glad he feels the way you do about the unborn. Does he feel the way you do about the ones that are here? Are you volunteering to go to court with them, represent them, supervise their home visits, and let them stay with you for a weekend so their foster parents can have a break from the tantrums and defiant behaviors? Will you volunteer your time to spend the evening feeding and toileting an adult that can't do those things for him/herself?

I believe Obama will win. I hope he will win. I hope that all of you that spent the half-hour praying instead of listening will be a part of the solution instead of part of the problem. If/when he wins, you can drink the purple Kool-Aid and decide that our faithless, Godless country that's run by a "Socialist Muslim" is doomed, or you can be the superior, epitome of morality that you claim to be and SUCK IT UP AND HELP.

Hugs and kisses.
-Amy

Interesting Article

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/26/opinion/26kristof.html?ei=5070&emc=eta1

Quick thoughts

I finally got around to posting the pictures of the kids in Dom's Halloween wig. (Too funny.) Grace looks like Annie and we are still trying to figure out what Dominick is exactly going to be for Halloween. (That's what you get when you thrift shop for costumes.)

We are almost all ready for our traditional Halloween evening full of friends and fun... we make home made pizza, this year David has requested Texas Sheet Cake for dessert and of course apple cider. (And we will sneak some salads in there too!) The "dads" are taking the kids trick or treating and that leaves the Mom's here to pass out candy and enjoy the peace and quiet. :)

Angeline has her first UTI and goes in and out of doing well. They changed her antibiotics once already so we are hoping that it goes away and stays away! We knew this was a good possibility of happening now that she is getting CIC four times a day. (That's Clean Intermittent Catheterization for short.) Please keep her in your prayers... this is rough. (On both of us- I feel like I am torturing her at times.)

Lauren, Grace, Sophie, Lena and I all have bad colds. I am downing a large bottle of Emergen-C right now. If no one feels better by tomorrow we are hitting up the doctor for something a little stronger. Even though I have been sick I haven't missed Boot Camp. Woohoo!! I am feeling stronger and getting leaner and it's really something I look forward to each morning. The eating part is going well too- or lifestyle change and the week one tally was that I was down 5 lbs already! (Which is great considering the amount of muscle being built.) I am going to try to stay off the scale for the next few weeks as suggested. (KB only likes a weigh in at week five and week ten.)



































Speaking of boot camp... my dear friend Amy F. that I coerced into doing the boot camp with us BROKE her elbow doing the cartwheel last week! :( (How terrible do I feel!) But she managed to still show up for cardio yesterday morning and is going to finish the class without using her one arm. How inspiring is that?

Jeremy came over the other day and got a phone call- and they asked for CASTRO- he then filled me in that his nickname is Castro- because people think he looks like Fidel Castro. Can't say that I disagree with that statement! :)









Well I am off to shower, toddler time, library, school meetings, then home for some schooling, then laundry, then dinner and MOVIE night!

I hope that your Wednesday is a blessed day.

Sarah

P.C. Everyone's talking!

(Photo credit: Jeremy- his picture-his eye- if you enlarge it you can see his hand and the camera reflected in his eye- this was impressive especially given the basic quality of the digital camera he used.)

I felt like I wanted to share some politics with you all- don't worry- I am not going to tell you who to vote for- I trust you all to be very informed, well educated friends, family and blog readers and know that your perfectly capable of making your own decisions.

I have read recently a couple of blogs that have really been interested and have made me think, so I wanted to share them here:

Courtney over at Storing Up Treasures in Heaven writes about her beliefs in this well written post.

Take the time to read the comments- people are all fired up. I do love seeing people get passionate about something!

Amy over at Smile and Wave- wrote this very spirited post- gotta love the buddy!

Hilary shared her beliefs and feelings in this post truly a view point that I hadn't thought about. It is interested to hear the biblical view of women being keepers of the home and how this is affecting her vote. Thanks for sharing Hilary- you certainly got me thinking!

And last but certainly not least- are a series of blog's from Amie- I don't know Amie- but I like to read her blog. And she's friends with Tara Livesay- (and any friend of incredible Tara's is a friend of mine! :) Truly thought provoking, moving, deeply intellectual and spiritual posts about several different "hot" topics. Please scroll down and start reading at the Politically Correct post. You won't be sorry you took the time to do so.

Happy Voting!

Sarah

Isaac Sings

(Don't forget to please mute the music on the right before viewing. And if your sound isn't on- turn it on and listed to Isaac and his adorable singing.)

A special thanks to the wonderful people who took this video for us- it's the little things like this that definitely get us through this wait.

Isaac looks so much older from the last time I saw him- I can't believe it's been over a year already. Praying you home son... you are SO adorable.

Can't help myself but to share this:

http://www.palinaspresident.us/
Fun and Interactive! Enjoy!

Oh and this... Ron Howard:
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/cc65ed650d

Super Happy

Today I am feeling super happy.

Although I am sore, I am feeling really great that its Friday eve and I have almost made it through week one of boot camp.

Today we did Cardio- which is challenging but fun- and involved (gulp) forward rolls and cartwheels. (I thought that it was a joke at first- but no- no it sure wasn't.) I felt silly- but made it through.

Please keep my dear friend Amy F. in your prayers today- she was the cartwheel queen and may have sprained or broken something during one of the cartwheels! Thankfully- her husband is a doctor and will take good care of her. :)

I am so happy and proud of my friends in the class and how hard they are working! You go girls!

(I swear that KB- the strong/buff/fearless instructor looked slightly alarmed when it was my turn to give a good left hook times three at the "thingy" he was holding- I must look crazy when I am so red and sweaty. Or maybe I just had that- I am not so coordinated where I throw my punches look in my stink eye.)

Angeline had several special blessings this week: Another Mom with a child with Spina Bifida has gifted her daughters pricey special shoes to Angeline, they are pink and white- and she will love them. Angeline also was able to use enough strength in her legs to climb up the ladder of her slide on her own. And lastly- we believe she has enough donations now to cover her WISH of a therapeutic bike! (I am expecting for a confirmation about this in the next couple days.) What a blessing! Thanks for all the donations and the donor who said that they would like to cover the balance of her bike. I can't wait for her to have ANOTHER option for mobility! We plan to bring the bike to toddler time, Costco, and even the mall with us. It will enable her to be close to the ground and able to get on and off if she wants to explore. Yipppeeeee!

Today we are having a FUN home school day full of art, cooking, PE and science! The house is already clean, applesauce and pie filling made (from the apples last weekend) and in the freezer, and we are ready to have some fun learning time together. These are the best home schooling days, and they make us all happy. Here is a link for you all with some great ideas:

http://www.earthyfamily.com/halloween.htm

Tomorrow my husband has off work and I am looking forward to our three day weekend together. Even though its ridiculously busy! I am still counting my blessings that he has his job, works so hard, and is able to be home so often- and that he loves me like no other. Amen!

Outdoor soccer officially ends tomorrow- and for that- I am happy. (Sad to say- its been a busy life with four kids in soccer.)

This week I got to experience two things: Vietnamese food- Yum! So many fresh and healthy options! AND... went to an "adult birthday" lunch with my sister and Aunt- and was able to bring my oldest son Jeremy- who has now moved from teenager to adult in my book. He held a good conversation, wore shoes with soles intact, and was just lovely to spend time with. He (along with Danny and Tyler) are working so hard, living on their own, succeeding at the things they are passionate about, and it feels really good as a parent to sit back and watch.

Two boxes arrived today from ebay, one large lot of various summer clothes from Baby Gap for Lena that I bought for $4.99 (which will go home to Haiti with her in January), and a large lot of Gymboree items for Angeline for $7.00, that includes the most adorable purple outfit with a jacket she will be wearing to church this weekend! I do like shopping and getting a bargain is the only way I like to do it!

I was able to convince friends to go to the ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW with us (dh and I) next weekend- without any arm pulling or whining/begging. Anyone local want to come? Email me! (Date nights looming in the distance make me happy.)

My ballot is filled out and ready to be mailed. That feels good.

What is making you so happy today?

Great information for Adoptive Parents

Q: How do you give a narrative to a child that suffered neglect as an infant during the first three months of his life, especially when I do not know the details?

A: What a great question! Children need to know their stories. This helps them understand themselves and gives them an understanding of who they are. The actual details of the story are not important, and in fact, should not be the focus. This is especially true for trauma that happened preverbally (before the child was speaking).

Infants and young children are 100% emotional beings, so the story needs to be told from this level to connect with the child's early experiences. When giving your child his story, focus on how the child felt (helpless, scared, terrified, sad, hungry, etc.). A child who was neglected missed the warm and nurturing touch of a parent, so hold your child next to you or in your lap while giving him his story. The important factors are your tone of voice, facial expressions, posture, and tempo of movement and speech. These are all right brain expressions that will speak to the subconscious experiences of your child.

Dr. Allan Shore, the "king" of affect regulation, explains that the right brain is the unconscious processor of the emotional self. The attachment bond is an emotional bond, so it takes expressing yourself and your child's story at the emotional level. What you say isn't as important as how you say it.

A dialogue might sound something like this: "When you were a little baby, sweetheart, you were really scared. Your mommy wasn't able to help you like you needed her to. There were many times that you were left in your crib alone. Babies get super scared when this happens because they are helpless. I'm certain this is how you were feeling. It probably felt like you weren't lovable, also. I do wish I could have been there. I'm so sorry this happened to you, honey."

I was speaking to a mother just the other day about giving her daughter who was severely neglected for the first year of her life her story. The mother's fear prompted these questions, "Do you think that this will just make it worse for her? Won't this only bring up bad memories and get her upset?" This is a fear that parents have. Of course! You're just trying to get better and move on in your healing process and I'm suggesting a trip back in time to expose the pain and overwhelm. The paradox is that in order to move forward, it takes going backwards, seeing the fullness of the trauma and experiencing it at all levels.

When your child's story goes unexpressed, he will be subconsciously living out it everyday. This pain and overwhelm will continue to influence him and drive him in his actions. You're not giving him anything new by giving him his story...you're simply bringing the subconscious to the conscious so it doesn't have the power to create dysregulation anymore. When these stories, connected to the feelings and emotions, can be expressed, healing happens.

So the question then becomes, "Whose fear is this really about?" Resistance is about the parent's fear of going back to experience the depth of darkness that her child experienced. Just the thought of what some of our children went through is completely overwhelming to us. I remember one day my daughter, who was also severely neglected, was beginning to open up to her early life experiences. I was getting so overwhelmed by her pain that I had to call a friend over to be with me so I could stay present with her. I needed support. Interesting that it was too much for me as an adult, so why is it that we expect our children to live alone in this kind of pain by themselves and be okay?

Find the courage to experience your child's early life with him, feel the impact of his feelings of being unworthy, and validate how bad it was for him. Then, you will have opened up the space for healing and a connected and happy future. Remember that attachment is about decreasing negative emotions. But even more than that, attachment is about increasing positive emotions. Clean out the closet to make room for joy, happiness, peace, and love! Press on,
Heather T. Forbes, LCSW
Parent and Co-author of Beyond Consequences, Logic, and Control

Follow ME!

I added the new feature right there... to the right of this post... FOLLOW ME- if you add yourself on there that would let me know who is reading my blog- and it would also give me a nice link so that I can read your blog. I would really appreciate you taking the time to do that. :)

We went apple picking over the weekend- 2 different places. We have a boat load of apples now and unfortunately because of day three and day four of bootcamp- my arms, legs, and now my behind- feel like jello so there isn't going to be any apple baking/making/peeling going on for at least another day! (I have said that now for the past three days!)

(I am not sure what is up with Bean and the hat. When she wears this little jacket- since she knows there is a hat-she has to wear it. It wasn't cold out... she is very much in charge of her own person these days.)

Today at BC the adrenalin must have been flowing pretty hard because we had "stations" for ab exercises and the whole back row of adults were just to chose their favorite ab exercise and do it... well Kika started rolling from one station to another- and the next thing we knew we had a whole line of adults just rolling to get to the next spot and it was quite funny. (Or at least we all thought so!)

Well I best be going- typing this is making my arms BURN. We are off to toddler time, library and home schooling fun today. :) Maybe the apples will be dealt with later.

I feel exhausted and invigorated at the same time- is that even possible?

USCIS Adoption News

USCIS Announces Adoption Policy for Hague Transition Cases Grandfathered Form I-600A Affected
WASHINGTON –U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that prospective adoptive parents already in the process of adopting a child from a country that has implemented the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (Hague Adoption Convention) who filed a Form I-600A, Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition, prior to April 1, 2008, and who have received the one time no-charge extension, may file one additional Form I-600A, and continue to proceed with their intercountry adoption through the “orphan” process. The new Form I-600A must be filed before the current approval expires, and only if the prospective adoptive parents have not yet filed the corresponding Form I-600, Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative.

U.S. law and regulations allow individuals who began the intercountry adoption process by filing Form I-600A or Form I-600, before April 1, 2008, to continue using these pre-Hague Adoption Convention forms and procedures even if they are adopting a child from a Hague Adoption Convention country. However, depending on the time that it takes prospective adoptive parents to be matched with a child and file Form I-600, the approval of the I-600A might expire before the prospective adoptive parents are able to file Form I-600. By allowing the filing of one new Form I-600A prior to the expiration of the current approved Form I-600A, USCIS is allowing prospective adoptive parents who have been grandfathered into the pre-Hague Adoption Convention process to continue to proceed under this “orphan” process, provided the child’s home country agrees.

If the Form I-600A is no longer valid, prospective adoptive parents must file a Form I-800A, Application for Determination of Suitability to Adopt a Child from a Convention Country, with a home study which meets all of the requirements for a Hague Adoption Convention home study. Once a Form I-800A is approved, the Form I-800, Petition to Classify Convention Adoptee as an Immediate Relativemay be filed on behalf of the prospective adoptive child.

It's Official

Music has been updated. Blog has been taken OFF private- we officially went over the number of allowed readers on private.

So my life's an open book from here on out!

And if you want more information about the super hero to the left... check back tomorrow.

Must sleep... sweet dreams.

Happy 3rd Birthday Mr. Personality!

Dearest isaac:
I hope that you are having the MOST wonderful 3rd birthday today. I hope that you had fun passing out the treat bags to all of your friends and that you enjoy the little gifts that we sent. I am so happy that you are getting to wear BIG BOY undies now and that you are working really hard on potty training. We are all so proud of you!

We are also so thankful and pleased that the "little" sized big boy undies we sent fit perfectly and now you will have both hands to play with your toys- instead of always using one to hold up your undies!
We miss you so much and we just know God is going to bring you home really soon. We have your bedroom all ready for you and we have started clearing out baby and girlie toys in the playroom to make room for your boy things. :)
Our whole church is praying all the time for you and praying that your homecoming is soon. We can't wait to see you again and I can hardly believe its been a year since I last saw you. It hurts Mommies heart to write that...

Have a wonderful and beautiful day son with your 2nd family at COTP. I know you are getting even MORE love than usual today.
We love you.
Mom, Dad and Your SIBS

Boot camp day 2

It was upper body today- just call me jello arms... I am so sore....
When Kika and I arrived there was a woman in her 60's in the class before ours. It was their first day too. She said that her friend, who also is in her 60's, took the class several times over the past year and lost over 100lbs. How is that for first thing in the morning motivation!

I was home by 7:35am and as KB (The Instructor) says... "Most people aren't even up eating their first Crispy Creme Yet!"

Lol

Boot camp- day one- review

(Pictures of my boys and nephew/Brother in Law at the state fair- where they went to see Weird Al in concert (lol) a couple weeks ago... )

So I didn't have any fitting pictures to portray day one of the boot camp- and since these pictures make me smile- I thought I would post these instead.

Let's just say- I survived the weigh in, photos in my sports bra, and the fitness test (that included a mile run- or walk/run in my case). The class has a lot of women in it- but the only ones who came yesterday were me, my sister and our two girls (Ames and Kika)- we were quite the four pack with all the GUYS that were there.

It took me about the first 20 minutes to get over the fact that there are so many guys in the class- especially since these guys are fairly fit in comparison to me. But once we all started talking about why we are there- and our goals etc. it was apparent that even though they were "guys" they were there for the same reasons that I was.

KB our instructor passed around a 12 lb medicine ball to show what 12 lbs really feels like to our bodies- then passed around a 5lb simulated piece of FAT that was grosser than all get out- and I touched it threw it real fast in a very immature kind of way to Kika. It was sick and crazy to think that five lbs is really a lot of FAT!

Our class time (6:30AM-5 days a week) is going to be a full- but very fun class I have a gut feeling about that. (Just given that the ladies I do know in the class are serious fun.)

So the REAL work out starts tomorrow. Day two of the diet is going well- we are allowed a "cheat" day on Sunday and no work out on Sunday- the rest of the week we are committed to sticking to the work outs and eating plan. (6 small meals a day). I didn't take my cheat day today because that didn't seem logical at all. So keep us in your thoughts tomorrow morning while we are sweating off the pounds and building the muscle! :)

I do feel slightly accomplished at this point. The big hurdles of getting signed up- and getting in the front door are completed...

Wish me luck! (I need it.)

Late night blog warning...

Please excuse the randomness of my thoughts, my bum hurts from sitting at this computer so long and its late and I can't wait to get into my bed!

So why am I not there you wonder?

Well... tomorrow Kika and I are doing a presentation about MAT and "service learning"... so I said I would put together a little slide show- that has now turned into a half hour full fledged production and is currently being burned in DVD and CD format so I am sure to cover all my bases. Its going to be good- and if I ever have the time- I might just share it with you. It basically chronicles MAT and how we started and shows lots of adorable pictures of all the children we have worked with...

So in going through file after file on the back up drive I found these two cute pictures that made me smiles and brought me lots of fond memories this evening.

:) (What I am doing right now.)

So tomorrow we have a busy day of presenting and encouraging others to find their "passion" outside of family/friends... we are going to encourage them all to truly find out how they can give of themselves and what their special talents are- and maybe even share a couple fun stories of the talents that we have like "baby stacking." (Another story for another time.) Anyhow... it involved getting from point A. in parking garage, up several flights of stairs, with three babies and not enough arms to carry them all... because we logistically couldn't figure out how we would get from point A to B without leaving one baby behind at some point... and given the distance from point A to B (not just from the garage to inside the door of the house or anything like that- it was a HIKE) we had to get creative. :)

So in other news... life is about to get real crazy around here. Boot camp starts Saturday- yes- fitness boot camp- for the next 10 weeks that will be a big part of my daily life. I am trying to determine how its all going to mesh together- and I am excited about soccer being over in two weeks.... which should help to free up the schedule a bit.

My son turns three next week. I don't want to talk/write/blog or think about that right now. It's all too depressing. But I got some cute pictures today emailed to me- so it really made my whole day.

I am thinking of taking the blog off private... I am at my MAX amount of approved readers allowed for a private blog at this point. So I either need to start deleting some people- or go public again. Any thoughts on that anyone?

(This is really fun to watch the computer spitting on the DVD's that I just made- how exciting to know how to do this- the possibilities are endless! I might have to do a Christmas DVD instead of a Christmas family journal this year.)

Speaking of Christmas this year we are only giving gifts (to everyone including our children) that:
1. Are handmade
2. Are home-made
3. "Do Good" for others
______________________________
and in some special circumstances gifts that do the following will be permitted for giving:
4. Are extremely educational
5. Create family togetherness

More on that soon too. (I have a lot to update you all on!)


DVD is done! :)
More soon... wish me luck at our exciting public speaking event tomorrow! LOL

Blessings,
Sarah... half asleep already...

A Hot Dog Day

Today is a hot dog kind of day.

The kind of hot dog day where Mr. comes home and they still aren't cooked- the hot dogs that is- and he had to stop to get the buns.

The kind of day where explaining myself over and over becomes mentally exhausting.

The kind of day where I know I never have to explain myself to people who truly know me- because my actions speak for themselves.

The kind of day where my words for Mr. are short and sweet and resemble something like... "I made no guarantee that the hot dogs would be ready when you got here."

The kind of day where he jumps in the shower real fast because he sees me salivate for a Ladies Night Margarita and he sends me on my merry way with a smile despite my lack of wifely dutifulness. :)

The kind of day where I LOVE THIS MAN!

The kind of day when I appreciate my sister going to law school more than she knows and I appreciate her rearranging her schedule to "have my back".

The kind of day where my daughter says... it's OK if I have other plans than a high school diploma- it will be OK.

The kind of day where I am still praying things will work out.

The kind of day where I realize that some friends are meant for only a season- and for that season- the reason may never be known.

The kind of day where Toddler Time tomorrow sounds exhilarating.

The kind of day where the only hours I have are spent checking workbooks and not partaking in fun time with my children- ick-ugh-yuck.

A hot dog kind of day... that's my life today.

Little things

Having a house full of children is rewarding most of the time.

There are moments though where I think I may lose my mind.

Then there are the little things that I stop, look and listen- and live in those little moments...

My days were blessed this week:

When Lauren and David made this special Panda cookie just for Bean.

When Grace actually advocated for Sophie (her sometimes arch nemesis) to be the person to go horse back riding with her. And then they had a blast together.

When Dominick had seven pages of math to do, and did eight just because he wanted to do ONE MORE! (They are short pages- don't think I am requesting too much of my son please. :)

When four of my children went to a swimming event but knew that their siblings were home (missing out because they weren't the right age for the outing) and when my children got into the car to leave the pool... they told us about the swimming, the pizza and the candy that they ate. And they pulled from their "full" pockets candy for their siblings at home, they didn't want them to miss out on all the fun. Especially the candy part.

When our new home school program's coordinator for our family called this week about Lauren's credit hours and asked how she can SUPPORT ME and what can SHE DO and when I told her, she said YES- and didn't even hesitate... not for one split second.

When my husband and I had a date last night and he let me choose the restaurant and he didn't even sigh once when he realized it was somewhere he wouldn't want to eat. And he didn't even roll his eyes one time when he saw there was a 30 minute wait. And he didn't insist on talking about Kids- or Work- or Drama- and he just WAS he who WAS with ME. (And only once did he say that Little Caesar's Pizza is better than the gourmet wood fired pizza we ate last night.) LOL

When Jeremy called on my cell phone to ask if it was "OK if he came inside" the house while we were gone. (Of course, its always his home too, even if he has an apartment- but I appreciated his kindness and consideration.)

When Lulu opened a new Bible for her birthday gift and she kissed it and held it up above her head, with both her hands, and she knew how special it was to have her very own "real" bible, perfectly fit for a seven year old- now finally at the "age of reason"... or so they say...

When my husband took all of our children, including the babies bundled up like Eskimo's, to four soccer games today so that I can get some work done. Amen.

How did the people in your life bless you recently? Maybe blog about it- I tag you- and leave me a comment so I can read all about it! :)

Being blessed...

Sarah

A Colorful week

The week started with finishing taking out Lulu's braids, deep cleaning and conditioning her hair... shopping for new "colors" for her hair, and then putting in new braids. This month her braids are about the same length as her regular hair because last time she chewed on the yarn on part of her hair. We are hoping with shorter braids to break her of that habit--- ewww!

Of course she chose Halloween colors, black and orange- for this month. :) It looks cute and she feels every bit the princess that she is so the goal was met!

We also did some tie dying this week. It was fun- and worrisome- since I had buckets of dye all over my really white kitchen. I was impressed at how careful all the kids were to not spill anything and they did a fantastic job dying the shirts and even a pillowcase! The rubber bands were hard for Dom and Lulu to put on, but they just kept trying until they got it. I should have taken a picture of the kids with their shirts on the next day. We looked like the hippie crew at toddler time and the library the next morning.

I saved up all the stained tee's and onesies from the past year and kept them down with the craft items in one of the drawers. It was unreal how many things we had! I had also found toddler size tee shirts (nice ones) for fifty cents each- so we had a bunch of those to dye.

For a $10 dye kit from Michaels and a bag of rubber bands from Office Depot- it was a cheap and easy craft that was fun fun fun!

The rest of the week was spent at doctor's appointments (more about that soon) and debating with my children's old school district about Lauren's high school credit hours.... We have a meeting with the Superintendent next week so we are hoping for resolution with the issues we are having. Lauren has worked too hard to not have her work counted for graduation... please send a prayer out for her if possible. The hardest part is not knowing whether or not the current person in charge should be fixing the issues- or if the people who used to be in charge- who told us she was earning high school credits- should do the right thing and come forward to fix the mess that was left- or her lack of "transcript ed credit hours". At any rate- it shouldn't be this difficult to get a public school program to issue credit hours that are due to a student! I feel hurt, duped, and sad about the whole situation. But I am going to assume the positive and hope that there will be resolution next week!!

Have a beautiful, wonderful, awesome weekend.

Love,
Sarah

P.S. We have raised $100 towards Angeline's bike already! Thanks so much everyone!! :)

A Special Birthday Cupcake

Lulu turned SEVEN this week. I can hardly believe it.

Our dear friend, neighbor and Lulu's reading tutor- gave Lulu this beautiful cupcake for a special birthday treat. She was beyond excited and so was Angeline because of course Lulu wanted to share her special treat.

After these pictures were taken, I ran off to grab my purse and the diaper bag to take Lulu and Dom to hiphop class. Much to my surprise when I went to put Lena in her car seat I noticed white all over her face.

Although Lulu claims to have NOT shared her cupcake with the baby- I am pretty sure she did. :)

Did I mention that Lena now weighs 15.1 lbs! She has tripled in size since she arrived in the US. I guess we have Lulu to thank for that.

Thanks for the sweet birthday surprise Kendra (and Tom and Paige!!)

Love,

Sarah

It's been a long week...

I am going to do a fast review of our week. On Monday Angeline had one urodynamic study and one ultra sound and four appointments at Children's. Grace, Lauren, Lena and Dominick came along for a long day of back to back appointments.
The good news is that Angeline appears to continue to have no signs of the syrinx. We are going to continue to watch her closely, and she will have an MRI and visit with the NS in December. Also the orthopedic docs. said that her feet look great and her hips have gone from 30% to less than 5% tightness in the past six months. (This would be because of her OT working with her, and because she is upright more often than she was before.) This was great news because hip surgery was not something we want to participate in anytime soon!
We had lots of things going on with the urologist. There is no urine re flexing into her kidney's YET, and she is emptying most of her bladder, but her bladder is "hard". Meaning that the muscle is hard and only holds 2-3 oz. at a time. Because of this, and because of her age, we are starting the intermittent catheritization (sp?) and meds twice a day. (The meds help soften the bladder so she can hold more urine so the hope is that between cathing, she might be a bit drier than she has in the past.)

The bad thing is that with the meds they have some not so fun side effects we really need to watch for. It's tough. My husband asked "How long will we do this for?"
I had to break it to him that this might be the rest of her life that we have to do this for (or teach her to do on her own). It's just added another thing to do and put her through on a daily basis- but of course she is taking it like a trooper!! I was really proud of my children on Monday, especially Angeline- they made it through the whole day with no complaining and just had great attitudes about all the waiting and rushing around the hospital. I am so thankful for that!! Yeah!!


Tuesday we were home most of the day catching up on school work from the day before. Everyone was grouchy from their long day on Monday and I thought I might lose my mind.
We had a long family meeting when "Dad" got home, regrouped and went to bed early!

Wednesday we took Lauren to the dentist and I had ALL the kids with me. (Not good to home school in the waiting area.) So the kids and I went to the local public market and sat around eating breakfast (bought from the organic market there) and did some school work. The kids were so good. Maybe that's the key- never let them spend too much time at home all together!

Then we raced from the dentist to Toddler Time. Angeline and Lena go to toddler time once a week. It's put on by the local early intervention program. It's wonderful, close to home, and lots of fun. Angeline acts very mad about using her walker there. She just can't be bothered and is acutely aware that no one else has one. It's very sad- but I am working through it with her! We are planning to decorate her walker and put a basket on it to kind of hype it up and make it more fun.


The Toddler time is also working as a transition for Angeline to have some activity time away from her family. OK so we all went last week and stayed for the full 90 minutes. (Parents HAVE to stay on site, and I would prefer to stay.) But the teacher is going to play with Bean without us starting next week for 10 minutes. She hates being away from us and gets very upset- so we have to start doing something to get her used to school or else this preschool thing in February isn't going to happen!

The teacher spent sometime after Toddler time was over talking to Bean and I and letting her know how excited she was that she was going to get to play with Bean for 10 minutes while Mommy was away and then Mommy would be back. Angeline said.. "Oh no, I don't think so."

When we tried to get her excited about it she said:

"Ok Mom, let's go now."

We shall see what happens!

After Toddler time we rushed home took care of a couple things, then Grace and I were off to a girls lunch out with her best friend for her BF's birthday. (Her BF's Mom is my dear friend, so it all worked out nicely.) We took a really long time eating our lunch, it was so quiet and so nice to have a little adult conversation. Then we surprised the girls with their first manicures (while we had pedicures). I got purple toe nails of course and Grace had a yellow french manicure. She was so cute about it, what a nice memory we made. :)

Thursday five of the kids had MAP testing (for math and reading) for a good part of the day. Lauren, Lulu and I took the babies and ran a couple errands, then back to get the kids, home for 20 mins, then off to soccer practices. (I don't know about this four children playing soccer thing- it pretty much takes up all our time! But they love it- what do you do?)

Friday my husband was home so he was able to take Angeline to get fitted for her new AFO's (they should be done in a week or two). We are able to have her orthotics made her locally now so that means two less trips to Seattle every six months! They have some really different things for her AFO's at the place her locally. She got to choose her strap colors and they are going to be very snazzy!

Today while my husband went to five, yes FIVE soccer games... I took the other half of the family with the "big boys" to run errands and help them to get groceries. (I am the transportation.) I was accosted at Walmart when the PC game that Lulu picked out for her birthday BEEPED while we left there. I really am NOT a fan of walmart, I have to tell you. They are one of the worst places to shop:

http://walmartwatch.com/

But given the items needed and the big boys looking to not spend much money- I caved.

So the PC game makes the thing go off when we left and I don't know if it was my Obama shirt or my son who "looks" homeless but then they had me taking my babies out of the stroller, dismantling the stroller, then they looked in my purse, went through my bags... all the while I was telling them- we bought two DVD's and a PC game- I know it's one of those items!

So the lady takes the three items, demagnetizes them- and then tells me it wasn't one of them! Ugh!!

So I go through the whole routine again (she has my $300 receipt and can see I paid for everything), then I have Lauren walk through the security gate to prove that its the PC game. Finally they believe us and let us leave. I let them know that I won't be shopping there again and I didn't appreciate it that I had to be accosted because they didn't know how to do their job right. (It wasn't a good time.) All the while they were blocking the entrance into the customer service area and the other customers were getting ticked off because all my "goods" were all over the floor!

Ok enough of that... we are now taking out Lulu's yarn hair- can I just say that its MUCH easier putting it in! Not sure if we did something wrong or not. We are going to deep condition and then put in some new hair soon.

Thanks for reading this whole rant. :)

Bean's Pandy Painting

Lauren made this adorable, sparkly, Panda painting for Angeline's room. (They have a new polka dot themed room- which Bean calls her Polkanuts.)

As you can see the pink ballerina Pandy has on her AFO's (orthotics) under her ballet shoes. Bean says that her Panda is "Just Like ME!"

So cute. Thanks Lauren- your such an awesome, amazing, incredible big sister.

Love,
Sarah

Isaac update!

Isaac seems to be doing better today. PTL!

He has been fever free and his weight is stable at his small/skinny little self. (22lbs 2oz)

Thanks for the prayers and please keep praying!

Love,
Sarah

Isaac is sick!

I got an email this morning that Isaac is sick, please keep him in your prayers. He finished his medication for the Giardia but has been sick for a couple days with fever, body aches and not eating/drinking much. When he eats he throws up. Please pray that this is just a "bug" and it passes soon.

I will update you all once I hear something on his condition today. (The information was from last night.)

His paperwork is now getting legalized so that was good news. We have to finish this step before MOI (which is where everything gets the final approval and the passport is applied for). We don't know if all the mistakes have been corrected yet or not, but this is certainly a step in the right direction!

After MOI he has a Visa medical and then we can make a Visa appointment I believe since our birth parent interview was done a long time ago.

Now if we can just get him home, healthy, and gaining some weight we will be in business.

Please also pray for everyone at COTP who are caring for him. They work SO hard and can use all the continued prayers that they can. :)
Blessings and Love,
Sarah