I Love These...

During our adoption process, we took a class online called "Conspicuous Families" through Adoption Learning Partners.  It was a great course with invaluable information. One aspect of the course addressed ways to deal with comments or questions that may (intentionally but most likely unintentionally) be confusing or hurtful to you or your child(ren).  Questions like... " What do you know about his real parents?", "Are you going to have any more of your own?", or even well-meaning comments, such as, "You're such a saint for adopting him."

Well- I have lots of responses ready now when people ask questions such as these in front of Kaleb.  However, I just came across these "Thank You for Asking" cards on etsy designed by artist, Jodi Queenan and I LOVE them.  They are business card size and come with matching envelopes- "designed to address curious questions and educate the public while keeping a positive experience for your family".

Here is what they say... 
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"Thank You for Asking" (front side)

There are many ways to create or build a family. We have chosen to build our family through adoption. Thousands of children will be adopted into the U.S. this year. Our child is legally 100% ours, and just like a biological child, our love for him was born and grew from our hearts. This makes him our real, chosen, beloved son, for whom we would die and give our lives. He calls us mother and father. At times, you may see a family who has both adopted and biological children. It is important to know that these children are siblings, regardless of how they come into the family.

"A Child's Story" (back side)

Every child’s story is unique, whether or not they are adopted. Adopted children are not bought. The cost of their care in his/her native country, and why their first family was unable to care for him/her, is private. For an adopted child, this is their story to tell when they are adults, with the closest people in their lives. But, what I can tell you is that we are not special people because we have chosen to adopt this child. Rather, we are blessed to have been given this opportunity to parent this child. We are also thankful for family, friends, community, and the kindness of strangers to learn and educate themselves about adoption.

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Thanks for Asking Cards
This artist gives a percentage of her profits to the Kolfe Youth Orphanage in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Check out her blog.



Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

Celebrating Dr. Seuss

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go!”

 - Dr. Seuss

Tomorrow (March 2nd) would mark the 107th birthday of beloved children's author & illustrator, Dr. Seuss.

Dr. Seuss's birthday was always one of my favorite days to share with the children when I taught preschool...  making green eggs and ham, decorating big red and white hats, playing rhyming games, and reading so many of my favorite children's books!  The kids always loved it.

I thought I'd share some of my favorite Dr. Seuss activities today, and also encourage you to participate in Read Across America.  NEA’s Read Across America Day is a nationwide reading celebration that takes place annually on March 2 (Dr. Seuss’s birthday!).  How do you partcipate?  Just have fun enjoying Seuss books & activities! 

FUN WAYS TO CELEBRATE DR. SEUSS'S BIRTHDAY  WITH YOUR KIDS:

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Check out Seusville's Educator page for some fun ideas- some activities are geared  toward classrooms, but many can be done by homeschoolers or younger children!

---------------------------------------------------------------------  Try Nigella Lawson's Green Eggs & Ham recipe! No food coloring needed!!  She uses pesto instead. (Sounds much more appealing to me!) Click here for the recipe.

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Make a Cat-in-the-Hat HAT

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Read about Theodor Geisel a.k.a, Dr. Seuss
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Try this fun & tasty Cat in the Hat Cookie Recipe
---------------------------------------------------------------------Check out this wonderful Dr. Seuss Unit from Homeschool Share-- so many ideas based on Dr. Seuss books!
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Another site full of educational activities based on Dr. Seuss books: Virtual Vine

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If you have an iPod, iPhone, or iPad, here's an app worth purchasing Dr. Seuss's ABC app (available through iTunes)- and there are many others which are supposed to be on sale for $0.99 in honor of his birthday! 

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Check out the 2-hour Dr. Seuss marathon on PBS Kids tomorrow! Click here for your local PBS schedule.
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The Red Thread

I've been thinking a lot about this book recently. It was given to me shortly after we adopted Kaleb, and it became a favorite of both kids.

"There is an ancient Chinese belief that an invisible, unbreakable red thread connects all those who are destined to be together." In this book, "a king and queen rule a beautiful and peaceful land. They should be full of joy and contentment, but they both feel a strange pain that worsens every day.

Then a peddler’s magic spectacles reveal a red thread pulling at each of their hearts. The king and queen know they must follow the thread-wherever it may lead." Well, they end up following this thread all the way to China, to a tiny village, to find that the thread is being played with, and pulled on by a baby girl in a basket. Of course, they bring her home, and she becomes their daughter. It is a beautiful story.

It is interesting because shortly before we made the decision to adopt Kaleb, I began feeling a "pulling" on my heart. It was strong and intense, and adoption was all I could think about. I prayed about it, I researched and studied, and I knew it was what God intended for our family.

God blessed us more than I could've imagined with Kaleb. He is the most amazing, wonderful son I ever could've asked for. And of course, He blessed us in the same way with our beautiful Kaitlin through childbirth.

Recently (for a couple months now), I have been feeling that pulling on my heart again. It is strong and is growing more intense. I have been praying and researching, and wondering if God has another journey of adoption planned for our family. Right now it seems impossible. Financially we are not in a position to do it. But I know that "with God all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26). I know that if it is His will, He'll provide a way for us to do it. Perhaps somewhere out there, there is a baby pulling on our "red thread"...

Kaleb's 5th Birthday Slideshow

Free digital slideshow customized with Smilebox

Homeschooling

I am officially a homeschooling Mom.  I started this adventure with the intent of homeschooling Kaitlin through the end of her 3rd grade year.  I didn't want her to have to change schools mid-year, and in addition, I was growing weary of her tears over homework and stories of her class "working through lunch" and using recess time to study for standardized tests.  So I jumped in-- learning as much as I could from my sister and other homeschooling moms, blogs & forums, and studying about & comparing all the different curriculums.  The more I read, the more excited I became about our new adventure.  I chose the Charlotte Mason philosophy because it made the most sense to me, and I really agreed with her ideas and loved her recommendation of "living books" over dry textbooks, doing nature studies, and her emphasis on fine arts. 

Now, two months into homeschooling, Kaitlin and I are both hooked!  We are enjoying our time together, and I've seen such positive changes in her. We've visited the museums in DC, taken a field trip to a local organic tulip farm, and done lots of hands-on activities.  We've also spent a lot more time outdoors enjoying the beautiful spring weather.  We've decided to continue with it for 4th grade, and beyond!

Here are some pictures of our Homeschooling Adventures thus far...

Kaleb is thriving in preschool. It's funny, being a preschool teacher, you'd think it would be a perfect scenario for me to homeschool him too... but his personality type is one that does very well in a school setting.  He loves the social aspect of it, and seems to listen to teachers better than me!  But one of the cool aspects of homeschooling Kaitlin is that he participates in much of what we do on his "days off" preschool.  Above is the kids' splatter painting which they did after a short lesson about Jackson Pollock.  I should've taken a picture of them at the end because they were pretty splattered with paint themselves! 

 

Volunteering with the Kids

This Saturday the kids and I partcipated in a meal packaging event called Stop Hunger Now. Their mission is to provide direct food relief in crisis areas and areas where chronic hunger and malnutrition exists. The meals packaged Saturday will be sent to Haiti.

I was thrilled to find a service project that the kids and I could do together. Kaleb got to scoop and pour rice into a funnel with three ladies who were rooting him on as he happily waited his turn to pour. Kaitlin was a runner, and brought bins full of the food bags over to the weighing & sealing area, and empty bins back to the food packaging stations. We did this for 2 hours and all really enjoyed it! I will definitely do this again. I would highly recommend this project to anyone who wants to get out and do something to help others. And it's wonderful that parents can bring their children so that everyone is involved.

It was also inspiring. In two hours, 15,000 meals were packaged! It shows what can be done when people come together and work to help others. It didn't even feel like work. Every time we reached 1,000 meals, a bell would ring, and everyone cheered. The atmosphere was uplifting and joyful.

At the beginning, there was a short educational presentation on hunger. After watching it, I think everyone felt excited and motivated to be there, doing something to help. We learned that that a large percentage of the food packages go to schools and orphanages where there are food shortages.

I would encourage everyone I know to get involved with this project, whether through donations or attending a meal packaging event. I definitely plan to do it again, and hopefully make this a tradition with the kids as well.

My Beach Photography

Photography is a hobby of mine, so living at the beach has been a fun opportunity for me to shoot something other than my kids. I'm learning more about landscape photography, but having such beautiful surroundings makes it pretty easy to capture beautiful shots. All of these were taken on Topsail Island, most very close to our house. My favorite one is the third one down from the top, taken from the deck of the beach house my parents rented last month.
I also love the one where you can see lots of footprints because those are Kaitlin & Kaleb's :-).