Manifesto for the New Year

A manifesto is a published verbal declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer.

Ever notice how life seems to whizzzzzz by?  It seems as though those things that are important get crowded out by the urgent.  This became so very clear to me yesterday.  My mother died.  I had been intending to print some photos and send them to her, but it was put off.  It is too late now.  It was just a little thing, but it could have brightened her days, and I feel badly that I missed that opportunity.  It really wouldn't have taken THAT much effort.

How about you?  Are the important things getting crowded out?  As we are preparing to go from a household with one easy going child to become a household of four children in about a year and a half span - three of them with special needs and from a hard place  - it becomes obvious that I need to be more intentional about my days.  I need to do a better job of prioritizing and making sure the "little things" that really are important don't get crowded out.

I had already been reflecting upon this past year, and how to make the coming year one that really focuses on the important when I got my all too real reminder yesterday of the shortness of life.  Instead of "resolutions" which I seem to keep for maybe two weeks, I'm looking at goals for the coming year.  I'm actually taking a huge hunk of today - choosing the important over the urgent - to write out an evaluation of where I am and where I want to be in 2014.  I'm using the SMART approach to goal setting:

**S – specific
**M – measurable
**A – attainable
**R – realistic
**T – time-based

If you'd like to join in, Motherhood on a Dime had a good printable for mapping out goals FOUND HERE.

Then I came upon a "Do-able Life Change Plan" today and thought it was so good that I printed THREE COPIES to put in the places in my home where I will most frequently see them and be reminded.  These twenty-five points are explained in the post by the author, Ann.  Check it out.  You just may find something helpful here.  She has the printable reminders in a variety of colors! 

 25 Point Sanity Manifesto

Yes, this takes effort, but as I've heard a thousand times over in the homeschooling community, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail."  Here's to a new year, with worthy goals and the focus on what is truly important.  I'd love to hear how you are planning to make this next year one that really counts.  Perhaps we can learn from each other!

We are REVIEWED!

I got an email from our China case manager this evening to tell me that the CCCWA's website had updated us to "reviewed" today!  This is great news, as our next step (which seems to come in a couple of weeks to most folks) is "match reviewed."  That will indicate that our dossier has been connected with Isaac's specific files, and the LOA has been issued!   Hurray!  One step closer!

Paper Chasing Six Months

My stats tell me that we have been paper chasing Isaac for six months now.  It seems like a long time, and I'm anxious for our boy to come home.

There is an illustration of the adoption process that is going around on Facebook.  This may help you to understand where we are in the process.  We're currently waiting on step #8.

While it may appear that we are just nearly at the half way point, once we receive our LOA (Letter of Acceptance) the steps are usually measured in days rather than in months or weeks.  The "average" wait for LOA is currently about two months, and we are on day 34.  If we can be average, we're over half way to our LOA.  I'm at the point where I jump when the phone rings, hoping it is our agency calling.  So if you call me and I sound disappointed, seriously, it is nothing personal!  :)

Update on Isaac

Shortly before Christmas we received an update on our sweet boy.  We had waited for this a couple of months, so were really glad to get a good report as well as two new pictures.  He looks healthy and happy, which did this Mama's heart good!  (Our agency doesn't allow us to post the photos, sorry.)

He is doing well health-wise and those details made up the most of the report.  But there were some little extra details that were included also.  

1. He enjoys going to school and is learning English.   HOORAY!

2. We knew he likes to play basketball, but were happily surprised to hear that he plays on the school basketball team.  There were no further details, so we don't know if there are other students playing from wheelchairs or not. 

3. He is reportedly a quiet child, and in this house of jabbering girls, we can sure use another listener!  They also reported that he gets along very well with others.

4. One thing that we didn't know about at all is that he plays a vertical flute - as in avidly - every day!  I wasn't at all familiar with the Chinese vertical flute, but it is a beautiful instrument.  Check this out to see how it sounds.

If you would like to know more about the instrument, here is a short video that tells all about it (This is not Isaac, btw)  One thing I know for sure is that if he doesn't own the flute he so faithfully practices every day, we'll be finding him one to bring home before we leave his country! 

Merry Christmas!

I love Christmas morning and the little sleepy heads that show up to open their stockings!

 

It was EXTRA fun this year having two children who had never experienced Christmas morning in this way before!  Tikvah has wanted to be a big sister for years, and they really needed one to show them the ropes this morning!

 

They figured out the routine pretty quickly!

Usually the Little Princesses are READY TO EAT.    Breakfast is very important to them, but today they just weren't interested even though I offered breakfast several times.

 

They are usually anxious to get dressed and have their hair brushed as well, but today were content to play with their new toys, and lounge around with their play cell phones!

 

Once they figured out that we weren't going to open the rest of the presents until we were ready for the day they quite willingly moved on.

 

It is our tradition to start with the youngest person and take turns opening gifts, one at a time.  It didn't take them long at all to figure out whose turn was next and to make sure that person stayed on track to keep things moving.

Our girls both came with an extreme fear of doctors.  Their gifts were strategically planned as they are both now doctors for their dolls.  Hopefully some "play therapy" will help them to overcome some of their anxiety.  Most of their other gifts were aimed at fine motor (OT and PT) skills, and helping them to learn the English words for animals, colors, etc.

Tikvah's favorite gifts were an art kit and face paint.

It is REALLY NICE to have little ones in our house again on Christmas morning.  God has blessed me very richly by letting me be their Mama.  Merry Christmas from our house to yours.  We hope you had a wonderful day!

 

This was part #3 of our Christmas celebrations with the Little Princesses.  

You will find Part One HERE  and  Part Two HERE

Visit some other families!  A Place Called Simplicity, Christmas links

Twas the Night Before Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas and our neighborhood was alight with the annual luminary display. Usually we walk to look at the lights, but this time we took our heat-seeking princesses on a tour in the warm van.

Devotions time followed.  For about two decades now, we have used the book Family Celebrations, Meeting Christ in Your Holidays and Special Occasions by Ann Hibbard for our Advent devotional.  The Christmas section includes a short scripture reading, memory verse, and Christmas carol for each day in December.  Our kids seemed to enjoy the familiar verses each year, and have learned the stanzas to a lot of carols over the years.  I'm pretty tickled that this tradition has been passed on, and some of our adult children now use this same book (albeit Kindle version) with THEIR children! 

The Little Princesses don't quite "get" what all the celebrating is about. They've played with nativity sets all month, and they can run and get the baby Jesus if you ask them to.  They know Mary is Mama, but I come up wanting when we get to Joseph and they are CERTAIN he is the Baba (father).    How do you explain Christmas to children who aren't raised in the Christian faith, and who don't entirely understand the language? We just keep on trying!  After our devotional, the girls opened one present and new pajamas.

Jen fishing with her magnetic puzzle.

Miss A was quick to point out that there were still gifts that should be opened!  This was pointed out to me repeatedly, and I was thankful that I hadn't put the gifts under the tree until Christmas Eve this year!

I well remember last year, wondering about the type of care our little ones were receiving half way around the world, and wanting them home so badly that I could hardly stand it.  It has been such a joy this Christmas watching their delight and amazement at the lights, the tree, the songs, the treats, and the many other things that we take for granted each year.  I pray that Isaac somehow knows we are longing for his homecoming also, and that his foster family is loving on him in a big way.

This was part two of three in our first Christmas with the Two Little Princesses.  Read Part Three

(Extended) Family Christmas

See these brave folks?  They invited us all in for the Lanz (extended) Family Christmas celebration.  This year there were thirty-two of us.

We gathered for brunch, and it was all over the house in various rooms...

on numerous tables ...

and some just didn't even bother with a table.

After eating we sang some Christmas carols,

and exchanged gifts.

Due to the number of people we are now blessed with as family, we tried something new - family gifts.  We found that often one family gifted the same type of thing to each family, so there were a lot of "Ok, now open the one from so and so next" going on.

Our final activity was making family gingerbread houses.

Grand daughter, Eve, looking exhausted after finishing their family's complex!

Our Little Princesses still aren't quite sure what all this partying is about, but I think they like it!

This is part one of three in our first Christmas with the Little Princesses.  Read  Part Two