Ending On A High Note

It's been a year of big and sometimes hard changes for our Middle Kiddo, but I'm so happy that he gets to finish 2025 on a high note with a volunteer shift at Habitat for Humanity. More good things to come in 2026.

2025 Reading

2025 has been a great year of reading, mixing fiction and non-fiction, serious and light. Far from the Tree is so long and dense in parts that it took me five or six e-loans from the library before I made it through, but I conquered it. On the other end of the spectrum, Perfection was perhaps the shortest read of the year and one that I would recommend for those of us whose lives straddle the before/after internet/social media eras. I'm not sure if there was an above and beyond favorite for 2025, but if I had to pick one, it would probably be Beheld.

Home School Executive Functioning Practice

We're still home schooling all three of our children and still using some creative, individualized strategies to build their skills.  Today's assignment for Little One: Propose three different ways to crush ten Oreos for Oreo cookie balls.  Test out your methods and decide which one works best.  Make and enjoy Oreo balls.

Tis The Season

 Parents of neurodivergent kids know the holidays are hard, so we try to be proactive.

9th Grade Service Project

Since our 9th graders are too young to vote, we used election day 2025 to focus on other civic responsibilities by assembling care bags for unhoused members of our community. We will be able to give away some of them every Saturday on our way to ballet class as we encounter and engage with unhoused persons with some frequency on this route.

This project was part of our home school social studies curriculum and allowed us to practice specific skills - individualized to each student - such as reading and reading comprehension, following written or spoken instructions, fine motor skills, and perseverance.

MOJ Bulgaria Referral Results Sessions 636 to 648

The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 636 which was held on April 11, 2025:

1) US dossier from February 2025 referred an identified waiting child

The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 637 which was held on April 17, 2025:

1) Spanish dossier from July 2021 referred a male child aged 1 year and 5 months with features in health status

2) Italian dossier from February 2022 referred a female child aged 11

3) US dossier from January 2025 referred an identified waiting child

4) US dossier from February 2025 referred a female child aged 12 years and 4 months

5) US dossier from April 2025 referred an identified waiting child

The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 638 which was held on April 25, 2025:

1) Italian dossier from November 2018 referred sisters aged 6 years and 7 months & 4 years and 9 months

2) Italian dossier from November 2022 referred sisters aged  5 years and 3 months & 7 years and 8 months

3) US dossier from December 2023 referred a male child aged 2 years with features in health and developmental status

4) US dossier from April 2025 referred an identified waiting child

The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 639 which was held on May 16, 2025:

1) Dutch dossier from October 2021 referred a female child aged 1 year and 9 months with features in health status

2) Dutch dossier from October 2021 referred a male child aged 4 years and 2 months with features in health and developmental status

3) US dossier from May 2025 referred an identified waiting child

4) US dossier from May 2025 referred an identified waiting child

The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 640 which was held on May 23, 2025:

1) Spanish dossier from May 2018 referred a male child aged 2 years and 2 months with features in developmental status

2) Italian dossier from January 2023 referred a female child aged 3 years and 4 months with features in developmental status and a family history

3) Italian dossier from August 2023 referred a male child aged 10 years

4) US dossier from October 2023 referred a female child aged 9 years and 3 months

The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 641 which was held on May 30, 2025:

1) Italian dossier from November 2022 referred a female child aged 8 years and 8 months with features in developmental status

2) Italian dossier from April 2023 referred a male child aged 11 years and 11 months

3) Maltese dossier from April 2023 referred a brother and sister aged 4 years and 8 months & 6 years and 4 months with a family history

4) US dossier from September 2023 referred a male child aged 1 year and 7 months with features in health status

The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 642 which was held on June 13, 2025:

1) Italian dossier from March 2024 referred a male child aged 3 years and 1 month with features in health and developmental status and a family history

2) US dossier from June 2025 referred an identified waiting child

The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 643 which was held on June 20, 2025:

1) Canadian dossier from February 2022 referred brothers aged 7 years and 9 months & 6 years and 7 months

2) US dossier from November 2022 referred an identified waiting child

3) Italian dossier from January 2025 referred a female child aged 11 years and 2 months

The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 644 which was held on June 27, 2025:

1) Italian dossier from November 2019 referred a female child aged 12 years and 9 months

2) French dossier from July 2022 referred a female child aged 1 year and 9 months with features in health status and a family history

3) Italian dossier from February 2023 referred a female child aged 2 years and 5 months with features in health and developmental status

4) US dossier from July 2024 referred an identified waiting child

The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 645 which was held on July 16, 2025:

1) US dossier from June 2023 referred a female child aged 2 years and 1 months with features in health status and a family history

2) US dossier from November 2024 referred an identified waiting child

3) US dossier from December 2024 referred an identified waiting child

4) Italian dossier from April 2025 referred a female child aged 12 years and 7 months with a family history

5) US dossier from June 2025 referred an identified waiting child

6) US dossier from June 2025 referred an identified waiting child

7) Canadian dossier from July 2025 referred an identified waiting child

8) US dossier from July 2025 referred an identified waiting child

The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 646 which was held on July 31, 2025:

1) Spanish dossier from October 2020 referred a male child aged 2 years and 4 months with features in health status

2) Canadian dossier from February 2023 referred a female child aged 10 years and 3 months with features in health status and a family history

3) US dossier from May 2025 referred a female child aged 2 years and 4 months with features in health status

4) US dossier from July 2025 referred an identified waiting child

5) US dossier from July 2025 referred an identified waiting child

6) US dossier from July 2025 referred an identified waiting child

The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 647 which was held on August 14, 2025:

1) Italian dossier from October 2020 referred a female child aged 12 years

2) US dossier from March 2024 referred a male child aged 1 year and 8 months with features in health status and a family history

3) US dossier from March 2025 referred a female child aged 11 years and 8 months with features in health and developmental status and a family history

The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 648 which was held on August 22, 2025:

1) Italian dossier from April 2023 referred a brother and sister aged 7 years and 5 months &  9 years and 8 months with features in health and developmental status and a family history

2) Italian dossier from August 2025 referred an identified waiting child

Annual Fall Getaway 2025

Another great weekend with our friends in the beautiful Deep Creek Lake area of Western Maryland is on the books.  Here are the highlights.

Waking up to this view:

Leisurely breakfasts:

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Hikes in autumnal woods:

Friendship:

Also golfing, standing up for what we value and love, a Ginny and Georgia binge-a-thon, hot tubbing, and campfires.  Remember, it's s'more o'clock somewhere!

September Blur

September always seems packed with activities and it still takes me by surprise every year.  Aside from regular therapy appointments, we had so much going on:

1) Arrival of Oma for a long visit

2) Fall Farm Party with our Indiana family

3) Annual Kings Island Day

4) Annual family photo shoot

5) Visit to the zoo

6) A few days of illness for all

7) Haircuts

8) Community outdoor movie night

9) The start of a new season of ballet for Little One

10) A birthday party

11) ETR meeting

12) IEP meeting

Whew!

A New Chapter

This week begins a new chapter for our Middle Kiddo.  After 13 years of participating daily in a specific method of intervention, he made it abundantly clear this summer that he is no longer willing or interested in having this intervention as part of his life.  We have decided to respect his wish and to honor his self-advocacy, leading to a new chapter that includes with a staggered roll in...

1) Trauma-informed in-home OT twice a week for a total of three hours

2) Limited targeted in-home academic intervention with a teacher that prefers to work with a personal/learning profile like Middle Kiddo's for about four hours a week

3) Companion care for about 20 hours per week via qualified providers selected by us specifically for Middle Kiddo.  These providers understand that they work FOR Middle Kiddo (ie he's the boss) and that rather than meeting other people's demands, Middle Kiddo will largely self-determine how these hours are utilized, including community outings and volunteering.

Even though this new chapter is coming sooner than we had planned, we are excited to see what impact these changes will have on our child and family.

Summer Break Week 14

The last week!  And it was a busy one.  Reentry from vacation went as expected amid several planning meetings with teachers and therapists.  Yard work needed to be done as well and we continued with the basement room refresh project.  Add some family walks and swims, peach cobbler and a couple of movies and I'd say summer break finished on a high note.

Summer Break Week 13

 Beach vacation!

Summer Break Week 12

Not a lot going on.  Things are falling into place.  Some corn in the backyard garden should be ready to harvest soon.  A few pumpkins have finally survived the strange hot and wet summer weather and grown beyond the size of a grape.  And I made two sourdough breads (jalapeno cheddar and cranberry white chocolate) using a new baking method which produces a really crispy crust that makes me very happy.

Summer Break Week 11

 Things are looking up just a little bit more.  It was a busy week.

1) Doctor's appointment for Little One

2) Neighborhood block party

3) A birthday pool gathering with auntie and cousins

4) Lots of babysitting hours for Big Girl

5) End of the college summer semester for Big Girl

6) Interview with someone to join Middle Kiddo's staff

7) Cincinnati Ballet Family Dance Day

8) Finished the new flooring in the basement school/therapy room

Summer Break Week 10

This has been a better week and we can just get the tiniest glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel.  We won a big battle which will benefit Middle Kiddo a few months down the road and likely forever, we continued in our search of medical answers for Little One, we had the most colorful summer dinners, we got a new couch and we started into another home improvement project.  Little tasks that had been lingering on the back burner are getting completed to boot.  Onward!

Summer Break Week 9

The punches keep coming hard and fast.  We're being carried along by their force and try to find the silver linings in the everyday.  We made sure to enjoy the good weather with lots of pool time and walks, made progress on some home projects, and prepared for important appointments in the coming week.

Summer Break Week 8

It seems that 2025 is meant to be a year of change for all of us.  Amid significant professional upheaval for Craig and me, Rex experienced a life-altering event that has uprooted his routines of five or ten years, depending on how you want to look at it.  This has placed our family into a very unexpected crisis that will take time to solve via an entirely new support set up for him that is yet to be established.

But we enjoyed...

1) Cranio-sacral therapy

2) Swimming and pizza with friends

3) Aurora's first birthday party

4) Evening family walks

Fourteen Years And Counting

Fourteen years since you became ours and made us parents.

And our hands steadfastly watch over you to this day, even in your sleep, just like we promised the judge in an Armenian courtroom on that hot Yerevan Monday many moons ago.

Summer Break Week 7

The struggle continues with challenges that have resulted in the cancelation of many scheduled therapy hours.  An unpredictable schedule and/or break in routine is never a good thing, especially when preparation has been impossible.  So we have been taking it one day at a time with no cherries on top.

1) CB Moves Family Dance Day

2) Home improvement project progress

3) Swimming whenever possible

Road Trip 2025

 Here are a some more photos from our road trip along with tidbits that are memorable to us.

Lots of lunches at rest areas and local parks
We get continuously better at packing these.

Fun with the high wind in Iowa and Nebraska
Impressive number of wind turbines in Iowa

Check in and check out at several hotels

Fargo fun

We met Big Girl's best friend from the orphanage for ice cream

A bridge troll in Nebraska

Unplanned side trip: De Smet, SD
and all the Laura Ingalls Wilder sights

NCFA Conference

This is us.

Summer Break Week 6

This week started rough but closed on a high.  Middle Kiddo is experiencing some stressful changes in his schedule and it's got him struggling.  Little One's health issues remain a resurfacing and distressing mystery.  And Big Girl is putting in long hours for her college courses but she's made it through midterms.  Aside from fireworks at Auntie's house and starting a home improvement project and blueberry cobblers and evening swims, there's nothing exciting to report.

Summer Break 2025 Week 5

It was road trip time!  

2360 miles, including all side quests, 9 states and 5 cities/10 sights, plus the NCFA Conference for me.

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Summer Break 2025 Week 4

 Activity upticked this week with...

1) A new BCBA

2) More medical testing

3) Cincinnati Reds game for Little One, Grandma and Dad

4) The start of the great road trip: Hello Nebraska!

Summer Break 2025 Week 3

Not much going on except...

1) Lots of walks

2) CB Summer Dance Day

3) Fighting for democracy

4) Home repairs

Summer Break 2025 Week 2

We finally had a few hot and sunny days, so this week included:

1) A couple of evenings in and around the pool for the entire family

2) The conclusion of the Great Brick Salvaging Project

3) Music, dance and food at a local Middle Eastern festival

3) Cousin Eleanore's first birthday party

Little One dancing with a group of Jordanians

Big Girl was raving about the delicious dinner

Summer Break 2025 Week 1

I don't know if I'll be able to sustain a weekly log, but I remember doing this one year and it was fun and I enjoy looking back on how we spent that summer. So I decided to try again.  This week we had:

1) Rain, rain, rain.

2) The CCHMC Patient Advisory Council Family Picnic (no rain).

3) A visit to cousins John and Jessica's farm to see the sheep and lambs and their guard llamas.

Renee Fleming

Our Little One reveres opera and is a huge admirer of Renee Fleming.  So when we learned that Renee Fleming would lead our city's May Festival and perform, we knew we had to get front row seats.  It was a magical, memorable, mesmerizing evening of music and joy for Little One culminating in a personal backstage meeting with Ms. Fleming after the performance.

Waiting patiently
for Ms. Fleming to appear at the sheet music stand

Now if only the rest of us didn't have to wake up to the Queen of the Night aria every morning...

MOJ IAC Referral Sessions 630-635

The following referrals were issued in IAC session 630 held on January 9, 2025:

1) Norwegian dossier from June 2018 referred a male child aged 3 years and 10 months with features in health status and a family history

2) US dossier from June 2021 referred a female child aged 5 years and 11 months with features in health status and a family history

3) Italian dossier from July 2022 referred an identified waiting child

4) US dossier from December 2022 referred a male child aged 2 years and 1 month with features in health status and a family history

5) US dossier from September 2023 referred a female child aged 2 years and 3 months with features in health status and a family history

6) US dossier from September 2024 referred twin girls aged 1 year and 9 months with features in health status and a family history

The following referrals were issued in IAC session 631 held on February 21, 2025:

1) US dossier from July 2024 referred an identified waiting child

2) Italian dossier from August 2024 referred a male child aged 9 years and 8 months with features in health status/developmental characteristics and a family history

3) US dossier from February 2025 referred a male child aged 4 years and 6 months with features in health status/developmental characteristics and a family history

4) US dossier from February 2025 referred an identified waiting child

The following referrals were issued in IAC session 632 held on February 28, 2025:

1) Italian dossier from April 2021 referred sisters aged 8 years and 10 months and 7 years and 4 months

2) French dossier from February 2023 referred a male child aged 4 years with features in health status/developmental characteristics

3) Italian dossier from April 2023 referred a a male child aged 10 years and 9 months with negative experience in an unsuccessful adoption and with specific attitude toward adoption and ideas about adoptive families 

4) Italian dossier from July 2024 referred two sisters and a brother aged 5 years and 10 months, 9 years and 7 months and 8 years with features in health status/developmental characteristics and a family history

5) US dossier from November 2024 referred three brothers aged 6 years and 3 months, 2 years and 8 months and 4 years and 9 months

The following referrals were issued in IAC session 633 held on March 14, 2025:

1) Spanish dossier from January 2016 referred a female child aged 8 years and 2 months with developmental features and a family history

2) Spanish dossier from October 2018 referred a female child aged 2 years and 1 month with features in health and development

3) Greek dossier from July 2020 referred a female child aged 12 years and 5 months

4) Spanish dossier from August 2021 referred a female child aged 1 year and 3 moths with features in health status

5) Italian dossier from August 2022 referred a male child aged 3 years and 7 months with features in development

6) US dossier from May 2024 referred a female child aged 1 year and 7 months with features in health and developmental status

The following referrals were issued in IAC session 634 held on March 21, 2025:

1) Italian dossier from February 2016 referred a male child aged 6 years with features in health status

2) Italian dossier from February 2023 referred sisters aged 5 years and 11 months and 8 years and 9 months with a family history

3) Canadian dossier from November 2023 referred a male child aged 3 years and 6 months with features in health and developmental status

4) US dossier from November 2024 referred a female child aged 2 years and 6 months with features in health and developmental status

5) Canadian dossier from January 2025 referred a male child aged 2 years and 2 months features in health and developmental status

The following referrals were issued in IAC session 635 held on March 28, 2025:

1) US dossier from November 2018 referred a brother and sister aged 2 years and 6 months and 3 years and 9 months with a family history

2) Maltese dossier from November 2021 referred a male child 12 years and 5 months

3) Italian dossier from May 2023 referred a male child aged 10 years and 1 month with behavioral features and a family history

Another School Year On The Books

Friday was the last day of 8th grade for Little One and Middle Kiddo and the last day of 10th grade for Big Girl.  All three have done some very wonderful things this school year.

Big Girl joined the Patient Advisory Council at CCHMC and enjoys volunteering in this capacity once a month.  She got her driver's license and, after jumping through many bureaucratic hoops, received her adapted car.  She has been driving herself to school and other places since February.  Big Girl was also accepted into a state program called College Credit Plus and is already two weeks into her first semester at UC, taking an English Comp and an Art History class.  These classes will keep her quite busy for the next eleven weeks.  Finally, Big Girl has a regular weekly babysitting job with frequent opportunities for extra hours, so she has been able to keep herself in some generous pocket money, too.

Middle Kiddo has had many staffing changes this year and instead of two or three team members, the revolving door has brought him seven different teachers/therapists since August and a great number of lost instruction hours.  He has taken these changes in admirable stride and continues to be motivated to become more independent around our home.  We have enjoyed seeing him take the initiative on different tasks rather than rely on help and show real pride in his accomplishments. Middle Kiddo has been volunteering once a week since the fall as well.

Little One's improved health has allowed her to blow the objectives of two IEPs largely out of the water and to participate more fully again in the community. She had her best season and best showcase at the Cincinnati Ballet yet and has grown tremendously physically.  She continues to explore her interests in opera, classical music, and really all performing arts and is never bored as long as she has space to let her creativity flow.

Great job, kids, and now on to a fun summer... if it ever stops raining.

2025 Cincinnati Ballet Showcase

Another successful season of ballet came to a close for our Little One yesterday with the performance of her class in the 2025 Community Showcase.  She loves being on the stage as much as she loves to see others there and she is a natural performer.  I kept my tears at bay this time and and simply delighted in her talent and her captivating exuberance.

Before she got on the stage, she told us, "I'm gonna kill it" and when we met her after the performance her first words were, "I wanna do that again!"  Thank you, Cincinnati Ballet, for giving our girl so much joy, purpose, and belonging.

Spring Break 2025: Plans and Pivots

It had been over three years since we traveled by air, initially due to unexplained medical issues for one of our kids (eventually diagnosed as a platelet disorder and severe iron deficiency) and last year due to our home expansion and reno.  So we decided that 2025 was the year to get adventurous again.

Zion National Park

We booked non-stop, round trip tickets to Las Vegas and made a detailed plan for drives, lodging, food stops, sightseeing:

1 night in Las Vegas

2 nights near Zion

2 nights in the Grand Canyon

2 nights in Las Vegas

But the massive late and unusual March snow storm had us pivoting after 3 nights, re-routing drives and re-booking lodging.  We ended up needing a highway closure overnight stay in Kingman, Arizona, followed by one planned and one last minute added night in the Grand Canyon with a final single night in Las Vegas.  Even with all the changes, we had a great vacation.

Hoover Dam

When we travel, as a rule, we do not eat at chain restaurants, but try to visit one of a kind local places.  I enjoyed the best cinnamon roll I've ever had on this trip.

River Rock Roasting Company 
in La Verkin, UT did not disappoint

We also had stuffed Prickly Pear French Toast, a blue corn pancake, and a Warrior Navajo Taco at the Cameron Trading Post which tends to be busy with tour bus visitors unless you get there early which we did.  Such a pleasant experience and super friendly staff.

With all the re-routes, we logged over 1200 miles in the car on this trip and got to see a lot of great and varied scenery in Utah, Nevada and Arizona where the snow that mixed up our plans created a picturesque drive.

Our grand finale was the Grand Canyon where we visited the entire south rim from Desert View Point to Hermits Rest.  Due to mobility and safety concerns, we had to limit our on foot explorations to around Mather and Yavapai Points and used our rental car/ park shuttle to reach all other overlooks.  I did walk the short distance between Powell and Hopi Points on my own and Hopi Point ended up being my favorite view at the park.

Red Rock Canyon

On our final day in Las Vegas, we hiked at Red Rock Canyon, visited an impressive cactus garden, and enjoyed Luv's Custard.  We made it back home on a Wednesday at 6:00 am and went straight to bed.

There was one new state added on our mission to visit all 50: Utah.

The first trip of 2025 was a success!