So, that's not really very long to ignore your blog, right? *sheepish*
The biggest reason that I'm back is that Compassion International is asking all of us to call on the Lord together for the people of the Philippines. My heart and prayers have already been there for a couple weeks, but the more news that we hear, the more it becomes obvious that the needs are desperate and long-term.
http://www.compassion.com/typhoon-hits-philippines.htm?referer=ph-typhoon-134566
My Compassion child, the niece of my heart, is in Cebu, and I haven't heard any news yet. We've been together for 8 years, and she and the Bunny are about the same age. Please pray for her, particularly that she and her family will depend on God and bring glory to Him with their attitude and love for others, even now in this very hard situation. Please donate money as well as prayers!
So, we are 2 1/2 months into homeschool this year with the Bunny and the Puppy. All is well. The Bunny has a lot of work. I can not even say how thankful I am for Teaching Textbooks math, and my friends at our co-op who teach her Spanish, English, and choir.
The Penguin went off to public school for the first time ever this year, and so far, so good!
The Panda is going to preschool 4 days a week. Since he is obsessed with the song, "The Wheels on the Bus," he is crazy about getting to ride a bus. A couple of hours of preschool makes me super-sure that I want to homeschool him. He doesn't really communicate well enough to tell me about his day, and I don't feel secure about him being gone half of his waking hours and not able to tell me about it next year.
If I ask, "Do you love Miss *Teacher*", he says yes. I believe this one. :)
If I ask, "Did you paint today", he says yes. :)
If I ask, "Did you ride a pony?" he still says yes.... :/
Even so, his communication has improved vastly. He hauls off with big, complex sentences every now and then now, and he's figuring verbs out really well. His speech is generally easy for me to understand, but people who don't know him can't always understand him.
He has tried new activities like biting and chewing, although they aren't effective at all yet. Baby steps... Feeding is still hard. We just celebrated the Panda's second Adoption Day! In two more years, I think these feeding and speech issues will be so much better, but it is going to take a lot of work.
Other adoptive mamas: I have heard a few people mention that their kids seem to struggle, or get out of sorts, around the time of year that they were adopted. The Panda was only a little over 2, and it seems impossible that he could remember, but both last year and this year, he had night terrors and strange behaviour all week during his "Gotcha" week. Coincidence? I have no doubt that he feels great pain and fear from his past, but to be able to time the big panics and meltdowns to that week (twice!), as young as he is, with no idea about calendars and anniversaries, is really surprising.
I am staggered at how far the Panda has come in two years!
In September, I took a three day trip BY MYSELF!!!! to visit my dear friends and their little ones in MI. It is hard to live far from your best friends, but the worst part of that is how hard it is to get to know their kids. We toured the Henry Ford museum, and it was lots of fun! Kendra's son loves trains, and this one was a WV coal train, so it is my favorite, of course.
The museum also has the very bus where Rosa Parks refused to move to the back. Without that moment in time, and the revolution that followed here in the US, would I have a child of a different race today?
We did all the birthdays. The Puppy wanted to go to that big rodent place.... I have to admit, I left that to Matt. The boys had a good time. The Penguin wanted to go ice skating. Once again, Matt saved the day. Even though he has only ice skated once, he was soon zooming around like a pro, and all the kids started doing pretty well. Surprisingly fun birthday activity!
The Bunny didn't want a party, and so she brought two special friends home to WV and granddad's house for Autumn Glory. *excessive number of pictures of leaves and children*
We carved pumpkins. This almost made me tear up the whole time. Having Matt here with us, instead of deployed like last year, makes all the difference in the world.
Matt and the Penguin
The Bunny
The Puppy
I just roast the seeds. ;)
The Puppy and I have started making homemade wheat soft pretzels stuffed with cheese. They freeze well, reheat in the microwave in one minute, and can be eaten while driving, so they are the perfect food. We had an exciting moment when my 13 year old Kitchen Aid started pouring smoke.
"Get the Door!" *running with flaming mixer to a nice concrete area away from the house* Whew!
Lucky the Puppy listened well. Apparently Kitchen Aids don't do well with large batches of wheat dough...
:)
