Guatemala Trip Part 4 (Final Installment)

The Culture

Guatemala City
Antigua, Guatemala

Guatemala Trip Part 3

The Orphanage
(A collection of buildings actually)

The Kids
The pictures on the yellow wall of the kids living in ONE house.
And you say we have enough children....

Guatemala Trip Part 2

The Work

Digging footings for a new building.

Painting 2 of the homes exteriors.

Guatemala Trip Part 1

Randy spent this past week in Guatemala. He was with a group donating their time to work with THIS orphanage. (Click on the word THIS and go to their site) Over the next few days, I'll post some pics of his trip. First and Last
(Impressions)

The Kids

Future Meteorologist

Why the glum look, you ask? See the weather station on its side? That is used to measure wind speed. THERE WAS NO WIND!

Calgon Take me Away

Let's just say, I'm hoping tomorrow is a better day. The current tally (and the night isn't over yet):
"I Love Judson" Ansley 25 times
"I will not hit" Judson 95 times Ansley 25 times.

Hey...look at their hand writing. Pretty good for a 6 and 4 year old. If nothing else, they are on the road to getting a LOT of work on penmanship. The added bonus, while they are writing (at different tables in different rooms) they are not hitting or saying things like "I don't love you anymore". So mom's blood pressure remains low.

Wordless (and Toothless) Wednesday

*smile*

There's a 4 year old in this family who is learning to tread water. His low muscle tone body is quite buoyant to be so skinny. His brother is a bit more timid but is still doing well.

Monday, Monday

Happy Father's Day

Fatherhood

Because not all fathers are like the father you read about in my previous "Sad" post, here is a happier post. This POST is about father hood. It is a very good and realistic read. I got it from the Schlorf's blog. This family, whom I've never met, are very inspirational to me. You see, they are in the process of adopting Louinard from Haiti. From day one of Reece's Rainbow, Louinard was the child I was drawn to. He had a beautiful smile and a sweetness about him. This family sold all their possessions and moved to Haiti to raise Louie until his adoption was complete. Twenty-six months after their journey began, they are FINALLY getting to the home stretch. Awesome family.

To all those fathers out there, hope everyday is a Happy Father's Day for you.

This Makes Me Sad

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/06/rare_prenatal_testing_case_rai.html

LOVE THIS

'When someone shares something of value with you and you benefit from it, you have a moral obligation to share it with others.'

- African Proverb.

Swim Lessons

Judson and Sawyer are taking swim lessons this summer. Sawyer is a little young but because he has no fear of water and is quite unsafe around water, we decided it would be best to get him started for safety reasons. Judson is at a good age for swim lessons. They both enjoy the lessons, although Judson is a bit timid. The goal is to have Judson swimming on his own this summer. Sawyer's goal is to be able to get to the side of the pool and pull himself out if he were to fall in. (Maybe a more realistic goal would be to keep his mouth closed and not drink in so much water.)

You may wonder how I manage to get Sawyer to stay out of the water when it isn't his turn and then to get out of the water when his lesson is over. It's called a bribe (or reward for those who want to be politically correct). The words I used OVER AND OVER AND OVER again prior to his lesson (Judson went first), "Only big boys get to take lessons. If you scream and cry, you won't get to take lessons". He'd start up and I'd say "No cry. Swim lessons are only for big boys" He'd take a deep breath, snuffle a bit, put his hands out as if to steady himself and say "No cry". Then to get him out without a scene, "Sawyer, time to get out. You can have a 'coke' today because you did so well" Only had to say that one once! (He loves coke and it's a treat)




Yes, I brought the other two. This is where they stayed while the swimming was going on. Ansley was a bit put out (who am I kidding, she was tripping over her bottom lip she was pouting so much) that she was not taking lessons. The truth is, the guy teaching prefers to teach kids around ages 6 or 7. He's doing me a favor by working with Sawyer. The 2nd truth is, she is very scared of water right now. I think she needs another year before she tries lessons.

Win a Computer!!!!

http://chroniclesofhousehold6.blogspot.com/2009/06/giving-away-lap-top.html

Fire Flies

Did you know that fire flies come from glow worms? Just ask Judson, he read it in one of his books.

Cute Idea

http://chroniclesofhousehold6.blogspot.com/2009/06/color-bags.html

Fortitude and Grace

There are very few people who could have endured the wait that THIS family has. They received their referral of twins well over a year ago. They had their first court date a year ago, almost to the day. After MANY, MANY court dates, they are FINALLY bringing their twins home. A true test of faith and they passed with flying colors. BEAUTIFUL is the only word that describes this story and this family. Check it out HERE. Our whole adoption world is celebrating with them.

There is another family, whose blog I follow. They, too, endured a very long journey. They, too, did it with faith and grace. So, check theirs out too. HERE.

I just love happy endings, or is it new beginnings.

Sometimes....

We think we KNOW but we really don't. Sometimes we choose not to see because it hurts. Sometimes it's good to look with an open heart and mind.

A little help from my Friends?

So thanks to his sister, Judson now has a loose tooth. Not ready to pull (without some screaming and blood) so we wait. He's quite happy about it. This is the 3rd tooth to get loose. The other 2 mom pulled. Mom will pull this one. Mom will pull the rest of his teeth plus 20x3 more teeth as it freaks Dad out to pull teeth.

Old Faithful (a.k.a. Our Jumping Place)

Blurry, yes. The smiles still show thru!

Video

Smiley Boy!

Yes, that high. For the most part, all the kids were good about Sawyer and it taking him so long to go up. (If he went up once, he went up 15+times, ALL BY HIMSELF)


Yes, Mom had to go through that tiny space. Nope, they didn't have to use the Jaws of Life to extract me!

3.5 years old *edited*

check it out HERE

Really? How can that be?
BTW, I got this from THIS blog. (they are in Haiti)

Soapbox (guest writer)

OK. So I was going to write this post but Meredith beat me to it. SO, go read Meredith's version and know, I give it a hardy, AMEN.

http://cornishadoptionjourney.blogspot.com/2009/06/patience.html

And to the folks at Walmart who said, "Your hands are full". No they are not. They are busy and they are happy. Full, they are not. To those who say, "I could never do what you do". BU&^ SH*&! Sure you could. You choose not to. THat is fine. Just like it is fine for me to choose to do what I do. Life is about choices. I choose lots of kids with varying abilities and looks and personalities. It's what makes me happy. No need to judge me by what you'd do if you were in my shoes. You are not in my shoes. My shoes make me happy. That's what matters to me. No, I'm not a 'saint', either. Far from it.

So there. I'm off my soapbox for a while. You can go back to your regular programming now.

Videos

You may have to IE. I tried Mozilla and it kicked me out but IE worked fine.

Take a look at these videos. Look at the eyes of these children. I've never understood how anyone can look at the eyes of orphans (whether from Ethiopia or Eastern Europe or North/South America, where ever) and turn their backs. All any of them want is a family to call their own, someone to notice, someone to help.

Those Left Behind (Part One):
Those Left Behind (part 2)

Neighborhood Picnic

Our neighborhood had a picnic the other day. We don't do a lot of things with our neighbors. Sadly, 'life' gets in the way. Since most of our neighbors (within shouting distance) are Empty Nesters, we just don't have a lot in common. They are all nice though and we do like speaking with them when we get the chance. So we jumped at the chance to go to this picnic and connect with some of the neighbors. I didn't get many pictures, as my camera batteries ran out. I did get a few.

Ansley and Judson spent 90% of their time in this. (sun beating down and all)
Turner fell out on the concrete, hitting his head. He was done.

They had a water balloon toss. That's Judson's new buddy. He was visiting his grandparents and hopes to visit J again next time he is in town.

This is where Sawyer and Turner spent the better part of the night.
Right in front of the band, jamming.
You could not have made Sawyer any happier than to just sit (and sometimes dance) while listening to the band play. He LOVED it!

Most of the neighbors didn't even know we had adopted Turner. Most were very supportive. Of course, you get the awkward, "You guys are doing such a wonderful thing" type comments. That one always makes me feel weird. You want to say, "we didn't do anything for these kids that they haven't given back to us 10-fold" Alas, sometimes people just don't know what to say. Speaking of people saying weird things, remind me to tell you about my trip to Walmart sometime. Maybe a soapbox post.

The Cost

Click on the picture and read the story, PLEASE.