Christmas Through The Rearview Mirror

Christmas is behind us... I am thankful in many ways because this season can be hard for our special children.  Still, we try to make it fun and hold fast to the traditions we have established for this time of year in our family.

We started the season with the Festival of Lights at the zoo...

... attended the annual Christmas party at our local children's hospital...

... decorated "gingerbread" trees...

... had some fun at Christmas in Loveland...

... enjoyed our Christmas Eve picnic...

... had someone receive her reward for the completion of 500 home school hours...

... and went back to the zoo one more time...

Here are my two favorite photos from the season...

Girl selfie at a brunch with a friend

My not so little littles

Here's to the memories!

Home School Holiday Week

Ella's winter break started four days before her siblings'.  For those four days we had great plans:

Ms. Claus helped prep the cinnamon rolls...

... which then waited in the freezer for Christmas morning

We even had time to make "fake lavash"

Pajama breakfast with her tutor

Obviously we should keep our day jobs...

Ella's home school holiday week also included her first poker lesson from her dad, making a garland for the tree, several Christmas movies, play time with neighborhood friends, and singing Christmas songs to her heart's content.  It was a much needed slower pace for the both of us and gave us a chance to spend some quality mother daughter time.

The Christmas Card That Made Us Cry

Each day this week, sweet holiday greetings from friends and family around the world have been pouring into our mailbox, bringing smiles to our faces as we read them.  But today's heartfelt letter from one of our very favorite therapists made us cry.

IAC 408 - 410 Results

The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 408 which was held on October 4, 2017:

1) Italian dossier from July 2011 referred a male child aged 4 years and 7 months

2) Dutch dossier from November 2011 referred a male child aged 2 years and 9 months with features in health status

3) Dutch dossier from November 2011 referred a male child aged 2 years with features in health status

4) Italian dossier from March 2012 referred a male child aged 10 years and 4 months with features in health status

5) US dossier from August 2013 referred a female child aged 1 year and 10 months with features in health status

6) Italian dossier from August 2015 referred two brothers aged 6 years and 1 month & 9 years and 1 month

7) US dossier from October 2015 referred a male child aged 3 years and 2 months with features in health status

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The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 409 which was held on October 12, 2017:

1) Spanish dossier from April 2011 referred a female child aged 4 years

2) Irish dossier from February 2012 referred a male child aged 1 year and 5 months with features in health status

3) French dossier from January 2014 referred a male child aged 3 years and 11 months with features in health status

4) Italian dossier from April 2017 referred a male child aged 11 years and 4 months

5) US dossier from August 2017 referred a female child aged 8 years and 11 months with features in health status and a family history

6) US dossier from October 2017 referred a waiting child (#3256) with a profile on the MOJ site

7) US dossier from October 2017 referred a waiting child (#312) with a profile on the MOJ site

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The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 410 which was held on October 19, 2017:

1) German dossier from July 2011 referred a female child aged 3 years and 4 months

2) Spanish dossier from September 2011 referred a male child aged 5 years and 2 months

3) German dossier from February 2013 referred a male child aged 4 years and 5 months with a family history

4) US dossier from June 2014 referred a female child aged 1 year with a family history

5) Italian dossier from October 2015 referred a male child aged 9 years and 4 months

6)  US dossier from October 2017 referred a waiting child (#3444) with a profile on the MOJ site

7)  US dossier from October 2017 referred a waiting child (#306) with a profile on the MOJ site

Picture Of The Day

Emilia placing a handmade hat and scarf
on the Giving Tree at school

Back To Stars Hollow

Craig and I managed to get away without the kids for 24 hours earlier this month.  We returned to Granville aka Stars Hollow for their Christmas Lights Festival.  The whole town was abuzz with activities and we enjoyed a holiday stroll, live music and a funny, if not tasty, dinner.

A pretty and quiet drive there

Horse-drawn carriage rides

Ice sculptures

Local businesses ready for the season

An old-timey candy shop

They went all out

The town's gingerbread house contest

Lounging in bed on a sunny Sunday morning

Another pretty store front

Thanks to our Ms. Rie and Ms. Brooke for making this lovely getaway possible for Craig and me.

Cookies Round 1

Ella and I baked our first batch of Christmas cookies today.  Five dozen of them will be delivered to neighborhood friends this afternoon and the rest are probably going to vanish here at home before the day is over.

Ella and I obviously have very different decorating styles.  I go light and she goes... well, maybe not quite overboard.  To be perfectly honest, I set some plain cookies aside for myself - no icing or decorations at all - my favorite.

Add caption

And here's a bonus picture of the girls enjoying our first little snow fall of the season.  Rex was excited, too.  He even said snow.

Pictures Of The Day

It's not what's under the Christmas tree that matters,

it's who's around it.

-Charlie Brown

Fluency Friday

I just got this note and video from Emilia's teacher, 

"I have attached the video of Emilia's November poem. She did fantastically! She even added hand motions. Emilia was the first person to present. Those who did the same poem as her chose to follow her tune and sing too, it was really cute! She has started a trend in our classroom."

Here's the poem she was performing:

Now the autumn days are gone 
Frost is sparkling on the lawn, 
Windows winking cheerful lights 
Warm the cold November nights.
Now the autumn days are gone 
Frost is sparkling on the lawn.

I love this little girl of mine, fighting with all her might to overcome her many challenges.  She's the bravest, most joyful warrior princess and I'll go to battle by her side for as long as it takes.

IAC 406 & 407 Results

The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 406 on September 21, 2017:

1) US dossier from November 2011 referred a male child aged 1 year and 2 months

2) French dossier from March 2012 referred a male child aged 2 years and 8 months with features in health status

3) US dossier from February 2014 referred a female child aged 1 year and 2 months with features in health status

4) US dossier from June 2014 referred a waiting child (#3343) with a profile on the MOJ site

5) French dossier from August 2014 referred a male child aged 1 year and 6 months with features in health status and a family history

6) German dossier from January 2016 referred a female child aged 2 years with features in health status

7) US dossier from August 2017 referred a waiting child (#3271) with a profile on the MOJ site

8) US dossier from August 2017 referred a waiting child (#307) with a profile on the MOJ site

9) US dossier from September 2017 referred a waiting child (#3005) with a profile on the MOJ site

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The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 407 on September 28, 2017:

1) Italian dossier from August 2014 referred two brothers aged 6 years and 4 months & 8 years and 1 month

2) Belgian dossier from November 2014 referred a male child aged 7 years and 7 months with features in health status

3) Spanish dossier from December 2014 referred a male child aged 2 years and 1 month with features in health status

4) Swiss dossier from May 2016 referred a male child aged 3 years and 2 months with features in health status

5) Belgian dossier from November 2016 referred a waiting child (#3452) with a profile on the MOJ site

6) US dossier from September 2017 referred a waiting child (#3004) with a profile on the MOJ site

This Is Us

This year for the Thanksgiving feast it was just the five of us.  By popular vote and based on our little family's preferences, we had egg salad sandwiches for our main meal.

After a laid back morning and afternoon, our extended family came over for dessert: pumpkin pie, peanutbutter pie, cherry almond crumble, and icecream.

Go Fish games

Biking - kind of...

Cousins at play

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours.

With A Little Help From A Friend

Rex is on an outing today with a new friend who we hope can serve as a peer model from time to time.  When this photo of them rolled into my inbox about an hour ago, I couldn't hold back the tears.

It takes a village and we couldn't be more grateful every time that Rex's very special village gains a new member.

Together Forever Day #6

Dear Emilia,

Six years ago today, I carried you out of the only home you'd ever known into cold wind and sleet as the sun had almost set over Dobrich.  You were light as a feather in my arms and your face showed sheer terror at what was happening to you.

November 14, 2011

I had waited and longed for you for months, enduring delay after delay, and now that I had you with me, I realized I didn't know you at all.  You shied away from our touch when it exceeded the boundaries of what you had known, you were restless and listless at the same time, you did not seem to want to give life another try.  I wasn't prepared to see your malnourished body when I peeled the clothes off you for the first time or to see the patches of missing hair on your head, the brittle nails, the deep circles under your eyes.  I wasn't ready to hear laughter and crying that was indistinguishable, to watch you rock in a corner for hours while covering your ears and sometimes eyes, too.  I was clueless about the level of neglect and trauma you had experienced which would show itself fully in the years to come.  I didn't know the many diagnoses that awaited us.

This morning, as I was sitting on the couch, watching the news, I heard your feet patter down the stairs.  I knew in a moment you would run around the corner and fling yourself into my arms, "Mama, Mama, Mama, hi."  You snuggled with me for several minutes, being generous with your kisses and squeezes until you said, "I go see daddy" and off you were.  I knew in another moment I would hear the words, "Daddy, I want hold you" from the kitchen.  Oh, how much has changed.

November 14, 2017

You have learned so much this past year from riding a bike to just about using the bathroom consistently.  Your teachers told me last week that your social skills have skyrocketed and that you are getting along fabulously with your classmates.  You say, "No help, by myself" with increasing frequency each day.

As your face matures, I see your beautiful birth mother and grandmother in it more and more.   I also see myself in your preferences about the world, in the way you say no and okay, in how you like to pepper your speech with German expressions sometimes.  You're like your dad in your positive attitude and the way you can make people feel good about themselves.

This morning when I wished you a Happy Together Forever Day, you clapped your hands and exclaimed, "Happy birthday!"  I was going to correct you and tell you it's not your birthday, but then I realized that in a way November 14 is the anniversary of your re-birth as a cherished and beloved daughter, sister, cousin, niece, granddaughter and friend.

Emilia, the last six years with you have been a gift to me.  Having you in our lives is a joy.

I love you.

Your Mama

First Nations & Colonial Day

Ella and I have been working hard in social studies, learning about Native Americans, explorers, settlers, colonies, etc.  Yesterday, we decided to go hands on by having a day of cooking that would celebrate American culinary traditions from hundreds of years ago.

We churned butter and since we do not have a churn, we used a jar.  Having to shake that jar for a long time gave us a small idea of the physically hard work people did daily hundreds of years ago.

We baked bread:

And then we put them together:

We cooked Stewed Pompion (a Pilgrim standing dish) and Nasaump (a Wampanoag recipe) for dinner.  We liked both.

And even though our kitchen was a crazy top to bottom mess at the end, Ella and I had a lot of fun yesterday.