VBS Family Night...

All aboard the Boomerang Express--it all comes back to Jesus!

I just want this waiting to be over...

I received this in my Inbox today. The subject line of the email...

love, MeiMei.

Press play and you'll see why...



My journey's here, but my heart is There
So I dream and wait, and keep the faith, while You prepare
Our destiny, til You come back for me
Oh, please make it soon!

Cause I just wanna be with You
I just want this waiting to be over
I just want to be with You
And it helps to know the Day is getting closer

Every minute takes an hour
Every inch feels like a mile
Til I won't have to imagine
And I finally get to see You smile

In reality, I know these lyrics are talking about heaven (and not a little girl waiting for her family). I know they are not her words. I know she does not understand all of the changes that are about to happen. However, to this Mommy's weary heart, they are the words of my daughter. I have been so blessed with supportive friends who know when I need a good laugh (or in my case today--a good cry). This process is one of those "things" in life--if you haven't lived it you can't understand the emotional roller coaster of the process. My two pregnancies were a cake walk compared to this. Seriously--one complicated--one typical--both a cake walk in comparison to this never ending emotional rollercoaster (AKA the paper pregnancy). To my fellow adoptive Mommy friends who are waiting with me--our day will come. It wasn't yesterday. In all likelihood, it will not be today but someday soon it will come. Then we'll dance like nobody is watching and start over at Day 1. Again. I have hope that when we see their precious smiles in person, all of the tears will be a distant memory.

A-thank you so much for your thoughtful email and most of all your friendship.

80 sleeps -- NOT EVEN A PEEP...

If I were the Type A kind I would mention that 80 days equates to 11 weeks 3 days. You know--IF I were THAT kind. The kind who likes to make lists and do the "funky chicken" when a "to do" is crossed off (knowing that SOMEONE cares nothing about my lists). The kind who wants to know if she's going to make it to China before the dreaded month of October when accommodations are limited and Consulate Appointments are sparse. The kind who would love to answer the daily question "When are you and Daddy going to pick up my sister?" with an answer other than "I don't know sweetheart. Not today". Since I'm not THAT kind, OH NO NOT ME, I'll go on about my merry way thinking of happy numbers between 80 and 90. How about 81? 81 is a nice number, isn't it? Or 82? Maybe Day 83 which happens to be Little Miss' 3rd birthday. Day 84 would make it an even 12 weeks........... I'm ready to stop counting. I bet you are ready for me to stop counting too, aren't you?

Discovery...

There is something about the first photograph that makes me want to say YOU MIGHT BE A REDNECK IF YOU ATTEMPT TO OPEN A COCONUT WITH A BIG KNIFE AND A HAMMER. Sorry honey...hehehehehehehe...

Play Ball...

Like mother like daughter...Little Miss practicing her "googly eyes".

Are you willing?

It is free until June 22. Go now and register.

Strawberry Pickin' Time...

Last spring we took Wild Man and Little Miss strawberry picking. We had so much fun we decided to make it a yearly tradition. Unfortunately we could not find a weekend to go as a family so we went as a trio today sans Daddy. This years adventure was basically a repeat of last. I picked strawberries and played paparazzi. Wild Man hid from honey bees while inspecting berries from afar. He waited for me to pick them and then proclaimed "Look, Mommy! Look! It's a strawberry!" about 100 times. :-)
They played with the borrowed farm umbrella just in case it rained...Little Miss stole all the strawberries from my basket and claimed them for her own (but isn't she the cutest strawberry thief you've ever seen?)...
How about a group shot for Mommy? Show me your berries please...
Hey, Mom? Do you see the sky? You should probably stop taking pictures and look over your shoulder...
It's looking a little stormy... YIKES!
It was at this point I hear the ladies from the strawberry patch screaming from the main house..."Get out of the field!!!! A storm is coming!!!!" I grabbed all of our garb and we started running along with the other six people in the patch. I watched the two women jump in their SUV's and drive like crazy people from the main house to the strawberry patch. By the time they got to us it was lightning all around with strong winds. One of the women took Little Miss from me while Wild Man and I jumped over the rows of strawberries to get in the car. Little Miss FREAKED OUT! It all happened so quickly I think she thought they were taking her away. She didn't see us go around to the other side of the Explorer so when the woman tried to put her in she SCREAMED BLOODY MURDER until she realized it was me on the other side. The bottom fell out about the time we closed the door. While I'm trying to calm my screaming two year old the woman driving is going ON and ON about how the radar looked terrible--how they were afraid we were going to get struck by lightning--how storms are SOOO SCARY on their farm. Ugh! HELLOOOOO---terrified children in the back seat--one of which is screaming in your ear because she doesn't like storms (and she thought you were a kidnapper). Be quiet lady! Anyway...we looked like drowned rats by the time we made it from the car to the main house but at least we didn't have to run the entire way to the house. In honor of their bravery, they treated both of them to a popsicle...
Of course, Wild Man declined because he doesn't like strawberry popsicles--though he LOVES strawberries --CRAZY KID! Clearly Little Miss had no issues with her special treat...
Once at home we made strawberry-banana smoothies together... and 24 jars of strawberry freezer jam...
This is what Little Miss thinks about strawberry jam...

Soapbox....

If you do NOT want to hear my rant move below the line to read a beautiful post written by Amy.

After hearing the news from Washington today, once again, I was overwhelmingly disheartened by people. What in the world is wrong with people? What gives any human being the right to think they are better than anyone else? Who convinced this 88 year old man he had the RIGHT to take another man's life because his skin happened to be black? I know someone will say he comes from a different generation. Oh yeah?? Who cares!!!! The security guard was holding the door for an elderly man who he thought was a museum visitor. In return, the old guy pulls out a rifle and shoots him. WHAT??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME????

I am so sick of excuses. I am so sick of hearing other people talk about "how I was raised". I am so sick of hearing about "a different generation". I am so sick of hearing ridiculous comments about "those people". You know what? I didn't grow up in the most racially diverse community either. I am certain a different generation of thoughts and feelings filtered through me at some point. For that, I am eternally sorry. But you know what? I became an adult. Adults make their own choices and decisions in life. If I made decisions based upon "how I was raised" I would not be the person I am today. I am no saint by any stretch of the imagination but I will NEVER allow "how I was raised" to be my excuse for _________. We should not make decisions based upon the decisions of others. God created each of us with a heart and a brain. We should use it. We were all uniquely made in His image. Every last one of us.

Shortly after reading the story, I came across this post from Amy. It is my hearts cry today. It may be my hearts cry for the rest of my life. Poignant words Amy. Thank you.
___________________________________________________________________

By now, one thing you must know about me is that "hate" is an emotion I just don't understand. Hateful feelings, hateful speech, hateful actions...they all mystify me. And they sadden me. I can be surrounded by so much goodness, so much hopeful and happy and one hateful word, one hateful action can leave me feeling so hopeless about the world my children are growing within.

I won't ever discuss politics here. As far as I'm concerned, there is no one "group," be they left or right, ethnic "minority" or "majority," educated or uneducated, socially and economically advantaged or disadvantaged who holds the corner on the Hate Market. It's an unfortunate reality that among all of humankind, hate is a condition that can and will be found.

I will discuss feelings, hopes, where I am coming from in my heart.

At times I think I must be incredibly naive...to believe that we are all just "one." We are constantly being persuaded through the media, in universities that we are actually quite separate. We are rich or we are poor. We are opportunists or we are victims. We are privileged or we are disenfranchised. We are black. We are white. We are Latino. We are Asian. We are left. We are right. If we think this, we are bigots. If we say that, we are racist. It's OK to want to save the whales, but a sign of ignorance to want to save the children. If you love this, then you can't love that. If you believe this, then you can't stand for that.

I believe that we are all children of God.

Some of us may not want to be. That's between those individuals and God.

Some of us may not know Him. I hope through my small existence and the way I conduct my life, one person will be encouraged to seek Him.

Some may not want to know Him. I hope their hearts are softened.

Some may know Him in a way that is different from the way I know Him. He loves them just the same.

Some may love Him as passionately, but understand him differently. He loves them just the same.

I am in no position to pass judgement.

I wish with all my heart that we could get to a place where we can see past the things that make us "different" to the many things that make us "one."

[Recently] I found myself looking into the faces of children who need parents. Children with no Mommy or Daddy to hold their hands as they undergo surgery or treatments for their needs. Children with no one to hold them, to rock them to sleep, to whisper songs into their ears and dreams into their hearts.

You understand this. I know you all do because this is the tie that bonds us through adoption. I didn't see Chinese children or African children, Haitian or Colombian children. I didn't see Buddhist children or Muslim children or Christian children. I didn't see children with cleft lips, or malformed limbs, with defective hearts or unseeing eyes. For that matter, I didn't see any "healthy" children. No orphan can ever be considered "Non"special needs. Of course every orphan has a "special need." They need someone to claim them. They need a Mom.

There's something about becoming a mom for most of us that causes us to be color blind, need blind, heritage blind. There's something about being a mom that causes most of us to look into the eyes of these children and see nothing more than a child. A child who needs a mom.

I just want to be a mom.

I've decided to stick with Love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.
-Martin Luther King, Jr.

_________________________________________________________________

Hate is a "bad word" in our house. We do not hate bananas. We do not hate weeds in our flower beds. We do not hate Princess toys or Batman. We certainly do not hate people. We may not like ______. We may not agree with _______. We do not hate in any way, shape or form. Someday I hope my children are as mystified by the word as I am.

Amy, thank you so much for sharing your heart.

Stepping off...

Wordless Wednesday...

Update on MeiMei

I wanted you all to see the pics in order and this is the easiest way to do it. We just received new photos of MeiMei this evening. Last Tuesday/Wednesday, she received the care package we sent her on May 4th. Without further ado...

5-4-09 at home...






6-3-09 in China...



They look like lovely people, don't they? Do you see how her foster father is holding her? How her foster Mom is smiling and laughing? Just makes my heart burst with joy. SHE IS BEING LOVED! The girl in the red is the Chinese director of TCH. She is holding in her hand the letter I wrote to the foster family. She translated it to them in Cantonese. I still can't believe this is real...this unbelievable scenario...but I know it is. Now if we could just get the rest of our approvals so we can bring her home! Anyway--that's our big news for this month. Let's hope there is more to come. Oh, I forgot one more thing. Did you know that today is our "first" anniversary? Jay and I went on our first date 13 years ago tonight. It seems all things adoption related are happening on the important dates for us so I guess we'll see what next Thursday brings--Little Miss' 3rd birthday.

Let the Summer begin...

Made muffins together
Swimming with our Wednesday swim day pals
Play date with friends
Signed up for summer reading at the library
Cashed in Wild Man's AWANA gift card (almost a year later)
Purchased and planted new flowers

We're off to a great start. We have two months to pack it all in. Ready. Set. Go!

Seventy Schmeventy...

If you can come up with a word that rhymes with 70 let me know.

Wordless Wednesday Batman Style...

Finding Ad...

Today we received MeiMei's finding ad. For those who do not know, when a baby is abandoned in China, the orphanage publishes an advertisement in the newspaper called a Finding Ad. This ad describes when and where the baby was found and where he/she is currently being cared for. It runs for several months in hopes that someone from the birth family will come forward to claim the child. Unfortunately most babies are not claimed and become orphans. The children are then raised in orphanages, foster care or adopted domestically and internationally. Brian Stuy provided us with an original newspaper, an enlarged negative of the ad and the English translation. It was very humbling to read the details of her story written within the pages of a public newspaper. Rows upon rows of other children on the same page as our MeiMei. All with similar beginnings. Parallel stories of how they came to live in an orphanage. Very very humbling. For the sake of our daughter, we have decided against sharing the details of her abandonment with the world. We feel this is HER story to tell. Not ours. IF and when she decides to reveal that information will be up to her in her own time.

(photo above is an EXAMPLE of a finding ad--it is not a copy of MeiMei's finding ad)

Schooools. Out. fo. Summa...

It seems a lifetime ago I was walking away from Wild Man on the first day of Kindergarten. That day, and in the weeks that followed, I was so anxious about how his days in "Big Boy School" would go. It did not take us long to discover we had been blessed with an amazing teacher, Mrs. Polka Dots. She quickly learned what makes Wild Man tick and hit the ground running. She has been out of school on maternity leave the past few weeks but came back to see the kiddos a few times this week. Wild Man was SOOOO happy to see her before summer vacation and to meet her new baby boy as well. I wish we could take her to First Grade with us next year but I'm pretty sure she wants to stay in the comforts of Kindergarten.
This is Mrs. C, Mrs. Polka Dot's Assistant and Wild Man's Reading Partner. Mrs. Polka Dot's started the Accelerated Reader program with Wild Man a year early. He was ready and it gave him something extra to work toward. Both teachers cheered him on for months (along with many hours of reading at home). By the end of the year, he was reading at almost a 3rd grade reading level! We are sooo proud of how he has transitioned into school. He is such a bright little boy with so much potential. We are praying his First Grade teachers will create the same wonderful learning environment he experienced in Kindergarten.

AWANA Awards...

Wild Man received his first book award in AWANA tonight. That is a huge accomplishment for a six year old. We are so proud of you Wild Man!

And the Award goes to...

Mrs. Polka Dots gives out her own class awards at the end of the year. In addition to school wide awards, she believes that every child deserves an award. Today Wild Man received the Outstanding Reader award for Mrs. Polka Dot's class!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Play...

Every year the Kindergarten classes put on their own production of the Very Hungry Caterpillar (based upon the book by Eric Carle). This year Wild Man was given the part of {insert dramatic music here} a pickle. That's right. He was a pickle...the best little pickle in all of Kindergarten. He practiced his lines every day for weeks. "...one pickle...but he was STILL hungry". Here he is in action...
Once the caterpillar turned into a beautiful butterfly the entire Kindergarten sang the chorus of "I Believe I Can Fly". It was really sweet {but all I could picture in my mind was R. Kelly singing in the middle of the corn field--one of those strange memories from my first year of college}.

Searching for us in the crowd...
Take a bow...
The cast of characters (back in the classroom)...
Grammy and Little Miss cheering him on...