Happy Birthday Tuki!!!!

It's official, you are 4 years old!! What a little darling you have grown in to. You are girly girl all the way!!!!

Tuki over the years.....

2005 - 2 weeks


2006 - 1 year


2007 - 2 years


2008 - 3 years


2009 - 4 years

In two days

it will be official, but as we did last year, we celebrated Tuki's 4th birthday along with cousin N's 5th birthday on Thanksgiving day.


The cake Tuki specially ordered. White cake with chocolate chips, pink frosting, princess crowns, candy and candles. I doubled the batch and made two cakes side by side for each of the girls. There were about 20 people there. I was pleased as to how well it turned out. The girls loved it too.




The girls right after I finished it.


Tuki staring the cake down at aunt M's, just waiting to dig in and eat, and then open presents.

eating a great meal prepared by my sister.



Girls standing in front of the cake while we are singing to them.

Post singing, and the cake princess crowns adorned upon two princesses.


Tuki, 4 years old and loving it.



Opening presents

Ve helping out. Mim had a bit of a hard time understanding all these presents going around without her included. Ve understood.



When she opened these dress up shoes, she immediately stated that she was going to share them with her sisters. I was so proud of her.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Peace that surpasses all understanding....and giving thanks for it.

This Thanksgiving is ESPECIALLY wonderful for me. It is the first time in 16 years that I am not waiting for my deepest desire, having MY family all together. I have longed and waited for this for half of my adulthood. I was beginning to wonder if it would ever be fulfilled. From the minute I set foot on the plane to pick up Mim to the present, I have been filled with this incredible peace, incredible. I don't think people realize how much the stress of "waiting for a deep desire" weighs until it is lifted.

We are all together and doing well. That is what we are Thankful for.

So for all readers, this Thanksgiving I pray for that amazing peace that surpasses all understanding!!!

Games, bonding and laughter

FEW NIGHTS AGO


We play LOTS of games, Mim loves them and we all get in there and play, laugh, and compete with each other...BTW - Mim is very competitive with games....


Tuki


Ve being goofy


Mim

TONIGHT


Ve and Tuki play almost non-stop once we all get home from school. Tuki at her finest


Ve sporting her new hair style. Mim taught me this style and she did one side of Ve's head and I did the other and it still took us an HOUR to do it!!!


Mim exhausted. She is adjusting to the long days at school, early wake times and then of course the dreaded homework. We placed her into 5th grade this year, one year behind where she would normally be. Already she is catching the hang of it, but it does require me helping her every step of the way. I did this with Ve last year, and now she is pretty good about doing her own work, so I know Mim will get there in time too.

Quick Update

Life is going well since Mim's arrival, and I don't mean Ok well, pretty well, or even so so well, but rather I mean REALLY REALLY well. I tell people that her arrival into our lives has been like a cool breeze on a warm summer day. OK, I know it has only been 1 day past two weeks, BUT I was still struggling at this point when Ve came home....so believe me when I say it is going EXCEPTIONALLY GREAT...now I probably just jinxed myself...LOL

I will post when I have more time, but getting Mim into the swing of school and schoolwork and me going back full time and getting three girls to where they need to be early in the morning has been my biggest adjustment...so very busy, but thoroughly enjoying it.

Latest Adoption Talk

A few nights ago, there was a segment on TV (Disney Channel) about a daughter, soon to be sibling to her new sister that had been adopted from Ethiopia. So I started the conversation with my dd's like this;

Me: "Adopted!?, who was adopted in this family?"

Ve: "Tuks"

Me: "and"

Ve and Tuks: "Ve"

Me: "and"

Ve and Tuks: "Mim"

and then

Tuks: "and Momma!"

Me: "Yes, that is right, I adopted you three as my daughters and you adopted me as your Momma, we all adopted each other"

Mim was also in the room, but she was silently listening to our conversation.

Seramas

newly hatched Serama chick - not mine


adult Serama hen - not mine

Ok, Ok, I do intend to post on Mim's adjustment thus far, but I have to share these little cuties first. I have been pursuing the purchase of these birds...Seramas, the smallest known chicken alive. Class A Adults don't even reach 1 lb. I was emailed just after Mim's arrival home, that the breeder had some hatched within the last week. I purchased 4-one week or less aged chicks. I picked the smallest of the smallest chicks. I will get into breeding them since they are a relatively new breed in the USA.

For perspective, spool of thread is about 1 1/2" tall.












Yeah, I know I am chicken (bird) crazy!!!!

Ve home 11 months

Today marks 11 months since Ve came home.

I have always known she had made amazing progress, but I have to admit having our precious Mim home makes Ve's progress even more evident.

We had her Parent/Teacher conference on Wednesday afternoon. She is doing fantastic. She is at average to above average in her kindergarten studies. Having her repeat the class was the single best thing we did for her education. The moral of this story is always push for what you believe is correct for your child. Even as an educator, I have seen that there will be others who think they have a better understanding of your child, but it is not always true.

As for Ve's age and her ADHD testing, the doctor and I now feel that Ve is just going to turn six this Christmas based on the fact that her 6 year molars are just coming in and she has yet to lose any teeth. This of course makes holding her back an even better idea. Now that Ve speaks english very well, I have asked her many times how old she was while in Haiti. She has NO idea, so it is all a guessing game with us based on her physical development.

We did fill out a Conners test on Ve about one month into the school year because her teacher was mentioning many of the same behaviors I noticed this summer. She scored very high on inattention and hyperactivity, but the doctor felt that since she is socially well accepted (believe she is well accepted, everyone knows her at her school due to her happy, energetic outgoing personality, LOL) we will continue to use behavior modifications to help her manage her energy. If there becomes a huge problem in the future that affects her learning , then we may consider medication.

Ve has been a tremendous help with Mim at school and at home. She is so cute with Mim, always reminding me of what Mim has or has not had experience with in Haiti.

Ve is spunky, sweet, kind, compassionate, and at times quite the handful, but I wouldn't have it any other way. She is a joy to be around and we love love love her enthusiasm for life.

The trip

I had arranged to have my sister care for Tuks and Ve while I was gone, and they enjoyed themselves immensely, except for the fact that they missed me terribly and were anxiously waiting the arrival of their new big sister.

I flew out mid-day on Wednesday (Nov 4) from the airport located only 30 minutes from home. It cost a little more, but I felt it was going to be worth it when we came home.
I arrived in Miami at 10:30pm and had to (again) sleep at the airport. I think I forget that I am 46 and not 26 anymore. I didn't sleep worth a d@@@, sleeping on the floor, the music playing, the announcements over the loud speaker every one minute or so, and then of course the air conditioner. Remember I am a Northerner and I really don't enjoy that artificial cool air blowing on me all night long. Needless to say I had received very little sleep. Not the way I wanted to enter Haiti, so I quickly grabbed myself a cup or two of coffee, and hopped on my plane to Port au Prince. I arrived one hour late since our plane was held up in Miami due to some sort of refueling issue. Apparently M had come with Zaboo to the airport at my expected arrival time and when I didn't show, they left and instructed a driver to pick me up. He was there, can't remember his name. We jumped in his truck and ....it didn't start, so he passed me off to a Brice, his vehicle started, but there was apparently something VERY wrong with his clutch, so he passed me off to a Jerry. Jerry actually did get me to Habitation Hatt, but I had to convince him to drop me off inside the gate rather than on a street near the hotel. I had never been to the Hatt before and I was a little worried that I may disappear and no one would be the wiser. But the fear was not realized and upon arrival Zaboo told me she arranged for me to get picked up, so it made me feel good to know others were waiting for me.

Mim was already swimming at the Hab Hatt pool upon my arrival. It was wonderful to see her.

We stayed all day Thursday, swimming and reconnecting. M arrived that night and brought all my papers for Mim. We stayed that night and then the next day, Friday, we left for the airport around 11:00am and flew out at 1:00ish. We arrived in our home state at 10:30pm and was home in bed by 11:30 pm. Mim was quiet, and I mean quiet on the whole trip. Even now she is quiet. One and half years ago, I left behind a little girl, this year I picked up a teenager..more on this later. Mim is as beautiful, polite, helpful and sweet as I remember.

As for her transition and schooling, I will share at later date...

I enjoyed the Habitation Hatt, but I really missed the people at the Walls. I do want to stay with them again when we return to Haiti.

For those interested in the Habitation Hatt---pictures


the sleeping area

the stairs leading to our room


our room's balcony overlooking the pool


restaurant


sitting area



walkway


getting ready to leave Haiti


riding a bike at home

Ve decided to rake leaves


Tuks showing Mim the sandbox

Together at last

After 5 long years we are all together ...forever...............................

We're off

to Haiti to pick up Mim.......details to follow..............................

Recap of the last few weeks

October 19, Ve went Saw-whet Owl banding with Kiki. It was a little late so Ve was tired, but well behaved. Tuks and I stayed home since she was feeling ill.

Last weekend Kiki went with us to Oklahoma on stage. It lasted 3 hours long with only one 20 minute break . The girls did fantastic!!! I did bring writing tablets along so that they could draw & write. We also rented the movie and watched it a few days before the play so that the girls knew what the storyline would be. I was VERY proud of them!!!


Last Thursday, Tuks wore her Halloween outfit to dance class. She was a Senorita "Princess"



with the rest of the class. Her cousin N was Tinkerbell in green.





Ve's first Halloween,and Tuk's fourth...as usual it was and is Tuks all time favorite holiday, and I believe Ve agrees whole heartily

This is how Ve went from house to house, in a full out run. It didn't take her long to figure out how this whole trick or treating went.


a little break


Kiki, Tuks, Ve, and friend H.


the highly dynamic cousin trio


having fun, and yes it was this cold


checking out the haul...see the bowl in the middle of the table....from two buckets. We share all the candy with everyone in the house. I feel it solidifies the concept of family.

very pleased with the night!!! LOL

As for Mim's homecoming..she will be home by next weekend!!!