Armenian Community Summer Picnic

Today we joined our regional Armenian community for its annual summer picnic.  It was quite a hot day which may have affected the turn-out, but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves nonetheless.

The picnic started with the Armenian tradition of Blessing of Grapes.  It was great to learn a little about the Armenian Church and its practices by observing the ceremony.

Meanwhile, there was some delicious Armenian barbecue cooking.  Let's just say Craig totally overate.

Rex had so much fun running around in the wide open space and was quite interested in his birth country's flag.

Emilia tried very hard to play and interact with other children her age, but one of the little girls just couldn't understand why Emilia kept calling a Cinderella doll Anna (as in Frozen).

Here is our little prince in all his glory, wearing a shirt that says, "I am Armenian."

I hope that next year other local adoptive families with Armenian children will join us for this picnic because it's a wonderful cultural experience in a community that welcomed our family, and in particular Rex, very warmly after understanding his story.

Getting Closer To Bringing Her Home

After 14 long weeks of waiting, we finally received the Article 16 paperwork from Big Sister's country.  Getting these documents allowed us to file our I-800, the approval of which by USCIS is the last major step before a court date can be assigned in Sis's city.  Now, hurry up, NBC.

Big Sis showing off a new photo of us
delivered to her by another family
visiting her orphanage last week

Summer Etc.

Summer's still kind of going round here and the kids are having fun:

Super dad took out Rex's staples a few days ago without assistance from a medical professional.  It took less than a minute and there were almost no tears (and yes, we did this outside while Rex was in a good mood from playing with the sprinkler):

This probably isn't news to anyone else, but why has no one ever told me that you can make a pretty decent smore in the toaster oven?  I have had quite a few desserts of one graham cracker with melted chocolate chips and a toasted smore on top since I discovered the secret:

And pizza from the grill is always scrumptious:

Now this coming week is going to be busy for us as we're trying to combine necessary appointments with some quality family time.  Take a look.

Monday: appointment for Rex at the wheelchair/ adaptive equipment clinic

Tuesday: pediatric check-ups for both kids followed by Coney Island (weather permitting)

Wednesday: zoo or museum or water park

Thursday: meeting with Emilia's preschool teacher, speech therapy for both kids, and OT evaluation for Emilia

Friday: hopefully take a breath and get some errands done

Saturday: Armenian community picnic

Have a great week, everyone!

Yard Sale & Pay It Forward

Today we held a yard sale to raise funds for our adoption of Big Sister.  We were still about $6000 short of our total fundraising goal and realized we needed to do more.

Even though generous family and friends donated their used items (thank you, you know who you are), we did not have a super huge spread to offer for purchase.  However, we had a great location in the parking lot at Rex's school.  We even got lucky and ended up being situated between two big neighborhood yard sales, so we benefited from the cross traffic.  Plus, the weather was perfect.

All in all, we raised over $600 today.  We are so thrilled.

Even better, our home has finally been cleared of some things that were no longer needed here and had turned into clutter.

And better yet, we met some very special people today.  For example, I talked with two adult adoptees (unrelated) who were adopted domestically several decades ago.  Both spoke highly and lovingly of their adoptive parents.  I also chatted with two adoptive moms today, one whose child has a chromosomal anomaly similar to Rex and one whose daughters from India are grown with children of their own now.  The latter mom told me that her girls were the best thing that ever happened to her.  I also met a woman whose infant daughter, Vivian, died of the effects of a chromosomal anomaly.  This woman now runs a local charity to assist families who have children suffering from prolonged illness or who struggle with a difficult prenatal diagnosis.  It was kind of miraculous how these particular people were drawn to our yard sale today which allowed us to share our stories.

Lastly, even though it might seem counter-intuitive to some, I believe that you can never out-give the universe that showers us with blessings every single day.  Therefore, I am going to take a portion of today's proceeds to help other families adopting from Big Sister's and Emilia's birth countries.

I ordered a lemon sugar hand scrub here to help Zola safely reach her mommy's arms.

And then I purchased some yummy chocolate chip cookies here to make sure that Chance and Callie get into their family soon.

I am also going to send some books I sorted out of my personal library (sigh - if you know me you understand how hard that was for me) to help Esther get home via this fundraiser.

And I bought a shirt here, so a special Bulgarian girl can have a little sister.

Stay tuned for our own last fundraiser here on the blog very soon!

Picture Of The Day

Sunday dinner: nature's summer bounty off the grill.  Dee-lish.

Stapled

Due to his developmental disabilities, Rex is very accident prone. Last night, we made our second trip of the year with him to urgent/ER care because shortly after coming home, he fell in the kitchen and lacerated his scalp on the corner of a cabinet.  Rex was not in very much pain, but when the bleeding stopped and Craig and I realized how long, wide and deep the cut was, we decided to take him in to see a doctor.  Rex was a trooper through all of it and to make a long story short, he now has three staples in his head which will come out in about a week.

All I can say is it's never dull when you have a tough and rambunctious little Armenian boy to keep you on your toes.

Picture Of The Day

 Where's Waldo?

Asleep in the toy bin.