Archery!

One evidence that the school year is in full swing is archery lessons.  We use this as part of our official "PE program" for the older kids.

They have completed several levels of lessons and both Tikvah and Isaac are now in the advanced group.

They enjoy it a lot, and both are pretty good at it too!   

The thing about archery is that everyone can do it and everyone can have a good day at it. You don't have to be an expert.     -- Tom Barker

Adding to the fun are two of my grandsons in the same class (their nephews!) so it makes a great thing for them to do together.

If you would hit the mark [at long range], you must aim a little above it: Every arrow that flies feels the pull of the earth.     -- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

New Baby!

Our kids are aunts/uncles - AGAIN!  With a big family like ours it seems there is often a new baby to hold.  Yesterday they got to hold their new niece, Georgia, who was just one day old!  She is my eleventh grandchild.  YES!  I know I'm super blessed!

The big sister (baby's Mama) threw a little party for the visiting relatives.

Welcome Georgia!  

Please Remember Susy!

November 1 is the beginning of the Reece's Rainbow Angel Tree . Its purpose is to draw attention to and help raise adoption grant funds for special needs orphans. I have the privilege of being the warrior for a little princess with the file name of “Susy.” My goal is to raise a thousand dollars for a grant towards her adoption costs. I'll tell you more about that in a couple of weeks.

If you are friends with me in real life, on Facebook, or a reader of my blog you have seen this adorable face before. I “met” Susy a year and a half ago when she was highlighted on Red Thread Advocates, associated with the WACAP agency, and her file name at that time was “Zuza.” I immediately had a connection with this little one, and though our family's path went in another direction (we were in process for Isaac at the time) I have never forgotten about her. Indeed, who COULD forget that smile?

Susy was found at (an estimated) two years of age and came into the care of her orphanage. She had some rehabilitation as was available in her province, and can now sit and even stand while holding onto something.

I will take a side step here to say a bit about how things work in regards to the waiting children available for adoption in China. An agency may have a specific child's file assigned to them for a few months. The file is then held only by that specific agency, and only that agency can handle the child's adoption process. Generally during that period of time an agency will advocate for, and try their best to match this child's file with one of their clients or as allowed in the case of the “Special Focus” children, with a family who has yet to begin the process. This is where I came upon Zuza, when she was assigned to WACAP.

After WACAP's allotted time was up to match Zuza, her file was then assigned to Madison Adoption Associates  and they too tried to find her family, this time with the file name of Susy. Sadly after both of these agencies were unsuccessful, Zuza/Susy was relegated to the Shared List.

For those not familiar with the Shared List, it is for special needs children whose file is not assigned to any agency. The good news is that means any agency who can facilitate China adoptions may request and process the adoption. The bad news is that there are over 2000 files on the Shared List, and a child can become almost invisible in the crowd.

Total – 2107

October 5, 2015 stats:
Girls – 564 (26.8%)
Boys – 1543 (73.2%)
Dossier First – 2 (0.094%)
Aging Out (10+ years old) – 712 (33.8%), 232 girls/480 boys
Aging Out (12+ years old) – 327 (15.5%), 104 girls/223 boys 
Aging Out (13+ years old) – 175 (8.3%), 57 girls/118 boys

Breaking it down:
There are 712 children age 10 and up as of the end of October 2015. Of those 712 older children, 327 of them are 12+ and 175 of them are 13+. This means by this time next year, 175 children are aging out of the system completely.  (Statistics and graphic courtesy of Red Thread Advocates )

Friends, that is where we come in.  We must not let Susy become invisible.

When I first laid eyes on THIS PICTURE I knew that Zuza/Susy could not be just forgotten and left to the fate that the handicapped face in their country.  It is just not equipped for their differences.

Susy at age 4

Susy's file states a diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy. (Not sure what to expect?  See my post HERE.) At this time she cannot walk unassisted, take herself to the toilet, or talk. Given those factors there is always the speculation of mental delays, and the very likely institutional delay that most orphans experience. If you've met my beautiful daughters from China, you know this was pretty much them just two years ago, and look at them now! While I can't guarantee that Susy's outlook is exactly the same as theirs, I am sure that with the medical care available in the States, regular therapy and the love of a family we could see this adorable little peanut BLOSSOM big time.

I see the faces of literally dozens of Chinese orphans every month. Why does one in particular stick with me? I believe in this case it is because I am supposed to DO SOMETHING. At this point is seems that advocating for this precious one is my assignment. Do you have the room in your home and your hearts to consider making Susy a part of your family? If not, will you help me to keep searching for them? Will you pray for this precious little girl?  Don't let Susy become invisible on the Shared List! We must not forget about her!

Updated photo, Susy at nearly 6 years old, October 2015

UPDATE:  My advocacy for Susy has paid off, and she has a family working hard to quickly process their paperwork!  WE ended up getting our Preapproval from China in December of 2015.  We are thrilled that we get to be her parents!

Mama Needs a Do-Over, book review

As the mama to children "from hard places" I am well acquainted with the do-over concept so I jumped at the chance to review this book.  We give our kids the benefit of do-overs.  Why not take advantage of them ourselves?  Lisa Pennington is an experienced mother of nine children.  She knows her stuff!  You'll find well thought out ideas to make those hard days better. 

Pennington's writing is so genuine and down to earth.  I found myself saying,  "Oh yes!  Been there!" to so many of her examples.  But beyond the writing is the challenge in each chapter to do some thinking and write out a plan of our own on how we are going to respond to those challenging days. 

This book of just eleven chapters was perfect as a devotional read in the morning -- there are suggested Bible verses for each chapter.  Let's be honest.  We all have "those days" where we want to just blow up or give up.  I believe if we'll follow through with the concepts presented here, our hard days will be not only more tolerable, but perhaps even memorable (in a good way.)

I loved this book and recommend it to my fellow adoptive moms who are in the trenches beside me.

-- I received a complementary digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Having Fun in the Fall

Sometimes you just have to ignore the things that you "should" do, and go have fun with the kids.  Like this day.  The boys had a rocket building workshop, and the girls were slated to just stay at home.  My oldest daughter (who lives nearby) got the idea that we should go with her youngest three children and my three girls who are still at home for a fun night out at a fall festival.  After initially saying, "No way," I repented and off we went. 

The first thing we saw when we arrived was a fire-rescue truck.  We'd just completed a fire safety unit in our homeschool, and Abigail yelled, "FIRE!" while she insisted I take a picture of the truck.

The firemen were doing safety presentations, so we got in on a review of the things we had been learning that week.  Things like touching to see if the doorknob is hot, crawling if there is smoke, etc.  We even got to practice it in their "smoke house" trailer.

Next was the bounce house.  They had a little trouble actually staying on their feet to bounce, but they had a  good time anyway! 

Abigail in front.  Jen is waaaay back towards the right.

 

There were other games and activities, but the favorite was the face painting booth.

Balloon animals finished off the evening.

We decided to stop for ice cream on the way home, so I called the dads and we all met up at the local McD's.

Oh the simple pleasures of life!  Look at all those smiles!

And the boys'  rockets?  Their launch date is in a couple of weeks.

Happy Fall!

Adoption Support Group Meeting

 Now that the Little Princesses have reached the mature age of NINE, they don't seem to have the massive melt downs that they used to have when allowed to stay up later on occasion.  So, we went back to the group that we'd connected with way back in 2013 when we had just begun the process to adopt from China.  It seems crazy to think that the last time we were at a meeting we just had Tikvah at home, and tonight we went with FIVE kids!

It was so refreshing to be with other people who GET IT!  Who have gone through the same intrusive processes to bring their children home.  Who have seen their children from hard places through countless doctor appointments, therapy visits, surgeries, etc. etc. etc.  and also who think NOTHING of it if your kiddo does something a little strange...

It was great to catch up with online friends face to face -- to hear where they are in the process now, and where God is leading them.  To see their kids older, more mature, more confident, and thriving with their family.  To see them take the lead in being compassionate to other children who are newly home, differently-abled, or just unsure of their welcome.

We had a nice dinner, then the kids played games while we parents talked and prayed.  Such a nice evening!

Just Show Up -- My Real Life Illustration of Such a Friend

Many of us followed Kara Tippett's journey through her blog "Mundane Faithfulness" and grew to really love this woman who trusted Jesus with all of her heart - even while she battled for her life. Over the summer I had the opportunity to review the book Just Show Up  co-authored by Kara and her good friend Jill Lynn Buteyn.  You see, Jill was there through the HARD, and shares glimpses of that beautiful friendship.  I told you about this book a couple of days ago here.

The Mundane Faithfulness community asked for stories from their readers about how a friend just showed up for them. While I'm not facing suffering like Kara did, I've had some hard through our recent adoptions, just as I'm sure you've had hard with something in your days.  Sometimes life just IS hard.  As I thought about the friendships in my life, one in particular kept coming to mind, one whose presence and practical help shouts of true friendship. 

After living in Indiana for twenty-eight years, a job change necessitated a move to Cincinnati.  I was pretty devastated over the move.  Cindy was among the first friends I made in our new state, and I immediately sensed a kindred spirit.

When our family adopted two little girls from China in 2013, Cindy was supportive through the process and one that I could trust with my true feelings.

 Five months after the girls came home Cindy knew the additions to our family, sweet as they are, were hard.  They were still attempting to learn the English language and get used to being in a family. The huge event of a wedding upset their schedule and honestly freaked them out. I was running on empty myself.  After witnessing one of the girls have a total meltdown in the parking lot after the rehearsal dinner, Cindy came to my home and helped me get them to bed while my husband finished up at the church.

The next day Cindy and her husband David walked into the wedding reception and asked, "What can we do?" then proceeded to serve dinner to the guests all evening!  They stayed on and helped with clean up until late into the night.  Her heroics didn't stop there.  In a classic case of VERY bad timing, our social worker was due to come a few days later for a required post placement visit -- and as one who has the "do it yourself" type of weddings, my house was in shambles.  Cindy showed up on Monday, ready to work again.  I was exhausted, (she must have been also) but her smiling face at the door and a warm hug soon helped motivate me to get moving.  She worked like a maid all day.

This is a post from my Facebook page two days after the wedding: "Another thousand thank you's to Cindy Z. who has been my right hand (wo)man during this wedding. Not only did her family help with the kids during the rehearsal, pre-wedding (including bringing snacks that I'm sure kept some of my daughters from dying) serving during the entire reception, AND cleaning up, packing up, driving stuff home PLUS helping me to put the Little Princesses to bed late that night. She showed up here again today and helped me clean this place so the social worker can come tomorrow and not repossess my kids! LOL! Thank you, Cindy. You have demonstrated friendship to the extreme!"

When we returned to China to adopt again the following spring, Cindy moved into my house covering days that my adult kids couldn't, so the little girls could sleep in their own beds and have someone they knew well to stay with them while my husband and I were out of the country.  Who does that?

This kind of friend, one who I know I can be myself with,  who doesn't care if my house is a mess because she is there to see ME not a showcase, one who senses the need without being asked and shows up to help with the practical nitty gritty of life, this type of friend is such a treasure.  I'm so very thankful for her!