Has anyone

ever found themselves playing with their child(ren), with like, let's say puzzles, playdoh, coloring, or like even LEGOS and then when your child(ren) wants to move on to something else and wants you to stop playing with...well let's again say LEGOS,..... BUT, let's also say, you didn't want to stop playing with the LEGOS, because they are soooo fun!!!!!!!!

This IS a hypothetical situation , Of course!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But just curious, has this happened to you???????????????


Oh, me, No, no it has NEVER, EVER happened to me, I was ya know, just wondering about others and their playtime...........that's all...........................

Enjoying the outdoors

I am keeping this weekend pretty low key since I want to get my pre-winter yard work completed in the next two weeks. Today was a great day weather wise, but I did spend the better part of the morning waiting for Watson to come back home. Tuks let him out of the house and the blasted dog doesn't come to his name when he is running free...I missed my morning workout due to his freedom run, but then we did manage to sneak in a walk this afternoon AFTER we enticed Watson back home. Anybody in want of a 5 year old scorgi????


Trying on her Halloween costume (a bat). Trick or treating is nearly all this girl talks about. We are on count down until the pumpkin is filled with candy.


In a reflective stance on our walk.


I call our walks..ADVENTURES... so today on our adventure she discovered acorns, it really isn't but what difference does it make, she was excited anyway.


She is saying 'white pine" in this photo


She was attempting to climb a hill..this is her immediately after stopping from her tumble..she is mad, scared, but not hurt


she is working her way out of her fall position as I am telling her she is ok, and that she isn't hurt, just a little scared


after she learned to come down off a hill on her butt or to hold onto branches..she learns quickly!!


just thought it was cool looking

Two men wrapped around her bitten finger

This weekend was once again event filled. Saturday morning we went to the Y, and then in the afternoon we went to see the horse from this post at her new home. Tuks was bit in the thumb by the horse as she was eagerly grabbing grass. Don't worry Tuks is fine, and I would imagine has permanently learned the lesson of presenting food to a horse with an open palm, and not a clenched fist. I tried to teach her this many times but it was to no avail until the bite. Remarkably, even after being bitten Tuks wanted to go for another horseback ride on a different horse.. Today we went to church and then in the afternoon we attended a picnic at Kiki's home. Kiki has had a guest, D from Uganda, who has been here for the last two weeks studying remote sensing under Kiki's tutorial at the university. He will be in the USA one more week before returning home. As you can tell by the photos, Tuks had both of them wrapped around her fingers. She LOVED playing with them....I enjoyed watching the joy on her face!!!

FFF - Hope

My hope this week is for Haiti


Hope for my girls homecoming


Hope for rebuilding or in some case building of homes, water supplies, health care, plentiful supply of food etc., for Haiti


Hope for the beauty of Haiti to be not only returned , but surpass what it has been in the last 30 - 40 years.

Reading.....

to Beatrice


the fine art of turning a page with a cat on your lap

Surprise

For a weekend in which we only had one event planned, the attendance of our high school cross country meet, it sure turned out to be a couple of busy days. Plus a really neat occurrence happened. Yesterday and today I ran into two different families that each had a child that had been born in Guatemala, and I didn't mention before but we also had run into a family at the fair several weeks ago who had 2 girls born in Guatemala..Small world.

As mentioned, Saturday am we attended the meet in which it rained hard on and off for the 2 + hours we were there. We still had a good time, and were able to leave once the final girls race was over rather than having to stick around to help clean up etc., like I would have had to do if I had been a coach, AND Tuks and I were able to attend together. After the meet we went to McDonald's for lunch (rarely ever do this) and then, believe it or not we went to the Y so that I could get an hour of exercise in...not sure how effective it was since I had eaten a Big Mac one hour prior to it...LOL

Then Saturday night my friend P called and asked if I would want to come see a Shire/Thoroughbred mix horse she and her husband were thinking of buying. I decided that it would be fun even though we had to get up early this morning and travel around 3 hours each way...My friend decided to purchase the 1 year old filly..she is a beauty. The following photos are from today.


Her first horseback ride..ever... on a Shetland named Buddha


She learned to hold the mane and squeeze with her legs..Buddha is being led by the owners son D


she loved the whole experience and talked about it all night


the horse P bought


isn't she a beauty


Tuks with the owner feeding her other horses


again staying busy with the horses


they also had a tire swing and I taught her how to get into it


just a swingin!!!!


I also showed her how to stand and swing..again she loved it

It was a great day and on top of it, it was a surprise great day. We plan to go visit P next weekend and see the horse at her new home.

Panda Style

This picture symbolizes my spirit tonight. I received an email early this am giving all of us (all adopting from my O) details on the progress of our kids. I found out Mim is further in the process than I had expected. Ve is still a little further in the process, but it seems Mim is catching up quickly...I am guessing a Feburaryish homecoming...Now realize that ish could mean several months later.... Both of their files still remain in MOI. The children at the O are safe. Marie does a great job in caring and protecting them.

February may seem far away yet, and it is, but I am resting and trusting God for the perfect timing for their homecoming. I am enjoying my teaching at one school right now, and I recently was approached by our principal if I would be interested in attending a technology conference at the end of Oct, and then I would represent our school in the district for technology..how cool is that. Of all the teachers in the building, she asked me. Last spring I had written a proposal for funding on a project that involved introduction of new technology, and our school was awarded the grant, and now I am spearheading a fundraising endeavor to raise more funds to incorporate more technology in our science department. I guess those are the reasons she thought if me...way cool, I never in a million years would have thought those actions would lead to this honor!!!!

I am missing the cross country running season, yet I know in my heart it is the right thing not to be coaching it this year, and probably for several more years to come...but I still miss it because I love the sport!! We are attending a meet tomorrow that is held at our high school, but this time I am coming as a spectator, rather than a coach...weird....

Because of the length before homecoming, I am also able to pay down more of my debt occurred from the three adoption processes before the girls come home, thereby the day to day expenses can be met more easily.

So all is good, the leaves are slowly changing, I lost 4 pounds, and my girls are closer to being home...thus the 4 (representing each of us in the family) contented panda bears....

BUT, please continue to pray for Haiti, and now again my brother's home is in the path of Ike, so continue to pray for them....when will these hurricanes take a break..I know, not until December, I am just venting my frustration from walking in fear for the last few weeks....

Help Haiti

Copied from fellow aparent's blog....

This is a DIRE situation. Please, if you have any desire to help the children of Haiti, please consider making a very simple telephone call or fax to your Congressman and U.S. Senators. Shelly, you too in Canada can make a call to your local government, as the problem is with the UN :)

Here in my Area:
Sen. Herb Kohl ph. 202-224-5653 fax 202-224-9787
Sen. Russ Feingold ph. 202-224-5323 fax 202-224-2725
Rep. Steve Kagen ph. 202-225-5665 fax202-225-5729

To find your local gov't reps:
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/

Word from Haiti:


Dear Friend,

Ike rained and blew all night on poor Haiti. This morning it is still raining and blowing. While we are safe on a mountain in Port au Prince, the northwest of Haiti is experiencing a natural disaster of unimaginable proportions.

Tropical Storm Hanna flooded Gonaives and claimed more than 500 lives in the past week. Now Hurrican Ike is dumping more wind and rain on the battered region. This morning we received a first hand report of a missionary there who said, "Forty children in the orphanage are eating flour, because they have not had food for five days." This same missionary is using bleach to purify contaminated well water for drinking. While human and animal cadavers float in the flood waters surrounding the facility. They have no other choice though as the UN is NOT DISTRIBUTING RELIEF.

The UN received 33 tons of relief for the region yesterday and it is warehoused in Gonaives, to date they have not distributed any of it. We received a message from a Haitian pastor in Gonaives who said his wife walked 18 hours through mud and flood waters to get food for her family. She returned empty handed, even with cash she could not find food; BECAUSE THE UN IS HOLDING THE FOOD BACK IN THE WAREHOUSES. It is rumored they will sell the relief after the storm.

This same family said, they "are waiting for death." This is not an overstatement of the situation in Haiti. We need your help now. You can go on line and find the name of your Congress men and you United States Senators with their phone numbers. Call them today and tell them that the UN is NOT DISTRIBUTING RELIEF IN HAITI. That you know the situation is worsening by the minute and thousands are at risk, in fact 600,000 Haitians have been displaced without food and water for days now.

As of Sunday morning, aid had arrived in Gonaive but due to fear of rioting, it had not been distributed according to missionaries in Gonaive. People have been without food AND water for 6 days now. Orphanages in the area have children without food and water.

The UN that is suppose to distribute the food and water. The US, Canada, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, The Netherlands, and other countries supporting the UN should demand that this food be distributed!

Another missionary, Licia Zachary Betor with Real Hope for Haiti, in the village of Cazele said that at 3 AM on Sunday morning, a wall of water swept through the village of Cazele. There is a small, shallow river that runs through the middle of the village. They are assuming that a mud slide in the mountains caused the wall of water to sweep down and flood the village. It took out the foot bridge over the river and swept people away. Licia heard that the road to the village was cut in half by the fast moving water and so the village is isolated, but she did not know for certain yesterday afternoon if that was true. Go to her blog at: http://haitirescuecenter.wordpress.com/ to read more about the flood.

Ike - death toll in Haiti is now 600

Hurricane Ike is raining down on Haiti. It is the 4th storm to hit the country in 2 weeks....Please don't forget to pray and act on behalf of the people living in Haiti....

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hzjNlbmkWXTUopBacCVFsbvUAqMA


Thank you...........

"As if he were my own blood"

I try to work out at the Y about 4 - 5 days each week. I have discovered a neat bonus on the ellipticals. They have their own TVs attached to each machine, so when you are exercising on it, you can tune the TV to any station your heart desires. Well...I have found I enjoy AMC quite a bit, since, 1) I only have basic cable at home, and 2) AMC runs many of the old westerns..which I love, yes, I do, especially John Wayne and Clint Eastwood movies..Tall, independent, strong quiet guys who always do the right thing no matter how difficult the task may be. Plus all the scenery from the west...Granted I don't enjoy watching their treatment of horses and women, but it is a movie after all..NOT real life..Anywhoha....

Well on the John Wayne movie I was watching Saturday morning, not sure of the title. John Wayne's character John Henry Thomas, just after the Civil War, stated to another character, that Blu Boy, a full Blooded Cherokee, was his adopted son. Well, the other character proceeds to ask if this was indeed true and John Henry states "Yes it is, and I could not be more proud of him than if he was my (inside my head I was screaming..no no don't say it, but then he did..but it was different), as if he was my own blood" I cringed at first before the word blood was spoken, but once it was I instantly calmed inside...and this is what I immediately started thinking as I was hopefully sweating my butt and hips off...maybe over the years the word "Blood" has been dropped (because of our shortened lingo over the years) from the statement "as if he were my/your own". A statement that can cause unrest in an adoptive parent and the adopted child's heart. It usually causes a "he/she is my own" statement in return...BUT the statement "as if he/she were my/your own blood" ties in the genetic link and that we all understand to be true...........one word, just one word, can make all the difference in the world in how a statement is received.

Waiting...............

We started a new 8 week session of gymnastics class tonight. Tuks was so excited that she was having major meltdowns just having to wait for the class to start. I'm not sure I like this session as much as I did this summer. It is taught by a college student and there are a few more girls in the class. Half the time is spent in stretching, and then maybe 15 minutes on the equipment. Tuks wants to be on the equipment!! Plus there was a little girl in the class that was SSSOOO not listening, running all over etc., and guess what Miss Tuks did..yep!! She took after that little girl and stopped listening as well. So me, being the mean Mommy and all, pulled her aside and told her she needed to listen or she would not be able to be in the class. That helped quite a bit. Then on the way home, I again gave a mini-lecture that no matter what other kids were doing in class, she was to listen to
the teacher at all times, and she was also not to tell the teacher "no way'. She said she understood, I guess we will find out next week....pictures were taken before class in my attempt to distract from the waiting.


modeling


silly


reflective


sassy




















Please keep Haiti and my brother's family in your prayers. First it was Hurricane Fay, then Gustav, and now Hanna.... Gustav even went up the Louisiana state line and was destined to hit my brother's place....

Therefore there is no news about the girls in Haiti simply because, well the people of the island are in survival mode.....

School clicking along and I have had my students for two days now and all is going well.