Thursday, July 28, 2011
No, not a referral yet, but still something cool
So I'm up at school yesterday doing prep work and PTO stuff (since we start back in a few weeks) and our principal tells me that a new student enrolled whose mom is from Poland! He's going to introduce us once we get back to school, but what a great resource, eh? Also, my husband recently had a new patient in his office that is also Polish and here teaching at the university. Nice guy, new member our parish, and yet another resource for us in the community! More proof that God is constantly giving us little reminders to stay faithful, be patient, and that He is looking out for our new son. Thank you Father!
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Another month down
Well, we've hit the 4 month mark and although I know small in comparison to some, it’s still another milestone in this interesting process. I must admit that selfishly I was hoping we would be taking our first trip by mid-August. I know, I know- God's time can't be rushed or planned- but its not because we are just so anxious to meet our new son; its for a couple of other more practical reasons, which might be even worse, lol.
This sad and silly but here goes. My son starts back to school in August and I really hate the idea of taking him out for a week once he’s in to travel to Poland. Now some people would say "just leave him home"; but here's the thing- he really, really wants to go along and meet his brother. How do I deny him that? lol And honestly, I want to see them interact together too and think it'll be a fantastic experience for him. Since we are looking at adopting a child over 5, I feel their dynamics will be very important and I want them to get a great start. And our school is fabulous and will definitely be understanding make no mistake- its just that he starting 4th grade and is doing sooo well that I don’t want to do anything that would disrupt it. See? Silly, but a worry nonetheless.
And the second reason is even worse. This year I got saddled with...I mean, honored with being elected PTO president. I could’ve said no, but that’s just not me. We needed someone and I was the most qualified...ok, actually I was just next in line. And I do love being a part of the organization and all it does for our elementary school, so how could I refuse?
Anyway, I can’t help but look at not only the school calendar, but also the PTO calendar and see when a trip would fit in best. These are absolutely crazy worries and not even related to a job! Lol lol! In fact, I’m less concerned about my husband taking off work from his practice! How skewed is that?? I know, I need to get over it because everything will work out fine and later in life, I’m sure we’ll look back and laugh at my silliness. Still....with fall festival, testing, fundraisers, and...... ahhhh, stop it Laura! lol
Moving on, I do have to say I see so many adoptive mom friends that have completed their first and/or second trips (Yay!!) and I am absolutely thrilled!! I have gotten to know many of you via FB and your blogs and I cannot think of any group more loving and deserving than you all. And I am continually amazed that although we are still waiting, this doesn't make me jealous or unhappy or even "woe is me, when will we travel"- it makes me joyous to see God bring so many families together and make so many children happy and safe. That is what this whole adoption thing is about and it is God’s hand at work- how could I even question that perfection? I can’t wait for the day we can all meet up at Polish Fest and let our children play- how special will that be since we have gone through these journeys together? Awesome, simply awesome.
So how have I filled my time over the month? Phew, lots of ways! Number one, with all this bru-tal heat lately (we’ve been in at least the upper 90’s since June!), we have been focusing on cooler family activities. That includes day trips, boating and tubing on our beautiful lake, and seeing movies- Cars 2, Mr. Popper's Penguins, in particular. I have played chauffeur to soccer training sessions and 2 camps- Clemson University where he commuted and got to work with Div I coaches and MLS players; and Erskine, where they held his team camp. At Erskine, my little guy stayed over from Thurs-Sun in the dorms, which was a huge step for him and mostly, me. He was with his club teammates, absolutely loved it, and could not have been safer. It was so good for him to branch out and stay with his soccer club buddies. And best of all, although he urged me to leave asap after I unpacked him on Thurs ("Mama, I'm fine. You can go now"), he was so happy to see us on Sun and greeted me with a huge, sweaty, boy hug...in front of his friends! Doesn't get much better than that!
On the educational side of things, the other day we also attended a tour of the Clemson robotics department, which was totally cool! Case got to drive a large robot through a maze, learn about light and sound sensors/technology, do facial recognition exercise, 3D computer generated technology, and see different uses for robotics. Case was completely into it and was thinking all the way home of ways robotics can be used to enhance and improve daily life. The best was when he said he would like to design a robot that would do the laundry to help me (cue the "awww!"). I loved that this experience really resonated with him and was educational to boot! As a result, he asked to be signed up for the Lego League Robotics Camp in August for kids here in town and I was more than happy to comply.
So as we wait for word on our new son, we will continue to have fun in the sun and AC. School is inching closer and closer and everyday I work on not stressing about the calendar. I’m trying to focus on the positive and not worry as much about that which I can’t control. One really good thing: my son’s new teacher for this year is fantastic (a man!) and very interactive with his students. Should we have to travel during the year, we are thinking about setting up a protected blog where Case can write about his experiences in Poland and his classmates can ask him questions. Another classmate whose family went on sabbatical to Spain last year did the same thing with this teacher and it helped keep him connected while away. One way or another, it’ll all work out.
Until next time!
Taking this blog private- the whys
I love technology. With blogs, websites, Skype, Facebook, etc we are able to stay so connected today with those we treasure, even when we are apart. We can even meet new people, make friends, and revel in the joys of others. And for me, that’s magical.
But its can also be borderline creepy when people you don’t know try to friend you or read your blog without identifying themselves. You can only take it for so long before you have protect yourself. Sorry, people in Russia, Ukraine, Sweden, Argentina, Belgium, Bulgaria, Spain, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Philippines, India, Germany, and Ireland- when you check my blog and don’t identify yourself, it really weirds us out. Yep, it's been this many countries- I have a traffic feed that tells me where. If we knew you, then it would be fine. But when we aren’t sure and you stay anonymous, we have to be cautious.
For this reason, we are going to be taking this blog private for the duration of our adoption. This protects us and, more importantly, our new son once we receive a referral. It also protects all of you that follow, by proxy. So if you would like to be added to follow my blog, please send me your email so I can add you. I already emailed some of you and if you responded, then you don't need to send it again. It'll probably happen within the next week so you have time to contact me if you want to continue to follow.
Thanks!
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Cooking in June and July discoveries
Its been a little bit since I last posted a blog entry so I thought I'd catch those following up on my escapades (teehee!). Again, SUPER long, but I want to capture these moments and sound interesting....kidding!
If I wanted to summarize the summer so far, its been H-O-T...brutal hot...with temps over 95 almost every day and high humidity (so my hair looks most days like Rosanne Rosannadanna). Its definitely worn out its welcome and is so "over" that it needs to vacate...and soon! Still, we did manage a few things:
Most of my early and mid June was taken up with serving, yet again, as the craft coordinator for VBS. I originally took this job on after this one person flaked out and totally dropped the ball and it was ALOT at the time. Still, I survived and got many compliments on my "creations" that I just continued to volunteer year after year. But, with Case closing in on 10 and after having done it for over 7 year now, I was totally cool with another person taking over and as MacArthur said "simply fading away". Alas, that was not to be, lol. For whatever reason, everyone is terrified of crafts and doing it for almost 100 elementary school kids on average makes most people run for the hills. So when they asked, I thought "ok, I'll do it one more year". The theme this year was cooking and I have to say, although it was very challenging to integrate cooking with learning about God and Jesus, I think I was pretty successful. And better yet, the children LOVED it! My thing is to have crafts that make them use both gross and fine motor skills and a variety of different mediums and textures if possible, so I never order the kits from the VBS company (of course, Oriental Trading and I know each other well and communicate regularly- ie they send about 3000 unsolicited magazines to me each year, lol). I also design the craft to relate to the bible verse or special message of the day. I feel it makes it more salient for the kids. Anyway, here are some of the crafts we did:
Of course, I had a wonderful time with the kids again and loved seeing their faces as they made the connection between our food theme and the Bible. Ok, the fact I had pictures up of famous Disney chefs and songs from "Ratatouille", "Lady and the Tramp"(Bella Notte), "Beauty and the Beast" (Be Our Guest), "Finding Nemo (La Mer), and various other french accordion songs (yes, there are albums available on iTunes! who woulda thunk it? lol) probably added to my enjoyment. Still, I'll be doing it again next year and probably more after that once we return home with our son.
Ah, you are wondering about our status- well, we have not heard anything solid yet, but it has only been just over 3 months. I know others have waited wayyyy longer. So we're patient and optimistic. The one thing I was hoping for was to have our first trip before Case started school, but we can't plan everything, right? We have filled the hours with boating, swim lessons, yard projects, and blueberry picking. Here is our over-designed, over-engineered, over-everything firepit and rec area that we decided to complete when the temps spiked 97-99. Nice timing, right? lol It is 45in in diameter and turned out great (and no, it isn't a kit):
Here we are picking blueberries- hard to see but the trees were dripping with them- and me and my boy. Brian was busy filling his bucket in another row, "Ka plink, Ka plank, Ka plunk" (How many remember that one? teehee!) *see bottom for answer youngsters
In the meantime, I have been having fun finding out more and more information about our Polish ancestry- which come to find out is much more vast than we realized. We knew Brian was 1/4 Polish on his dad's side and they have always celebrated all sorts of Polish traditions through his grandmother etc. What he didn't know was where the family was originally from and how far back it went. Anyway, we were talking about all this and Brian's dad remembered all kinds of new information nuggets. My F-I-L is getting up there, but he's still as sharp as a tack and frankly didn't even think to tell us some stories, lol. Guess he thought we knew by osmosis? lol But as a result of the new info, we've (I've) found some cool things!
Now, his mom (Brian's babcia) was something of a scandal because she was the first one to not marry a Pole in many generations; instead she married (gasp) an Irishman! At least he was Catholic too, which is probably what her very Polish Catholic parents and large family thought, lol! I'm kidding, they loved her husband loads! Anyway, one cool factoid in particular helped me to find a very distant cousin who had loads of information on Brian's great-great-, great-, and grandparents. Including Brian's grandmother, they were all 100% Polish, but until recently we weren't exactly sure where the hometown was in the old country. Most of the records we had stated Prussia or Poland as birthplaces, but no town. It was pretty common back then and even names changed when they loaded boats because of language barriers, etc. Still, I found this cousin and corresponded with him and lo and behold....I found it! Turns out Brian's family from wayyy back comes from a little town by Gdansk called Kosciercyna. Brian was absolutely thrilled when I told him! We totally want to visit here, even if the adoption takes us elsewhere in country, because how cool is that??! Better yet (wink wink) I scored major points with the father-in-law because he had not heard that name since he was a little boy. lol! Not that I had to, but he was really happy and that made me happy as well! It almost felt like returning a lost heirloom, if you will. Giving them the actual name of their ancestor's hometown was really special, like returning a piece of their history, and helped us to feel even more connected to this wonderful country. Which is why we can't wait to experience it firsthand. This was really the candle on the frosting on the cake :)
And while we would love to see Poland ourselves, we have definitely been enjoying it secondhand, lol! During the waiting period, I have definitely had my attention shifted by all the HAPPY NEWS so many of my fellow adoptive mommies have received! Truly, these are all answers to our many individual and collective prayers. Brooke, Heidi, Kara, Renee, Jennifer, Tracy....holy cow! The pure numbers are nothing but God's hand at work! I am absolutely thrilled for each and every one of you and know you will all be loving, fabulous mothers! Someday we will all have to have massive reunions all around the country! And I am overusing my exclamation point!! lol lol Anyway, I love following your journeys and for all the encouragement you give to us. We are happily waiting because we know we can't rush God and He always knows the perfect time. Plus we have our loving, energetic, wonderful son to keep us busy so although we too look forward to receiving our referral, we are happily basking in the beauty and love of your adoptive journeys. Thanks for letting us come along :)
Well, that's it for this installment. I find myself a little lonely right now since I dropped Case off at his first ever stay overnight soccer camp. He's with all his buddies from his soccer club (I was politely dismissed and told I could leave almost as soon as we got him unpacked, lol!). Now, I'm sure he'll have a blast, but its the first time he's been away for so long (3 nights) and I can't help but be a worry-wort. He's smart and a great kid, but he's my baby....and he's growing up fast. I love him to pieces and just don't want to miss a second. :) Oh geez, what will I do when he goes to college??
Until next time dear friends.... :)
*Blueberries for Sal! One of my faves growing up :)
If I wanted to summarize the summer so far, its been H-O-T...brutal hot...with temps over 95 almost every day and high humidity (so my hair looks most days like Rosanne Rosannadanna). Its definitely worn out its welcome and is so "over" that it needs to vacate...and soon! Still, we did manage a few things:
Most of my early and mid June was taken up with serving, yet again, as the craft coordinator for VBS. I originally took this job on after this one person flaked out and totally dropped the ball and it was ALOT at the time. Still, I survived and got many compliments on my "creations" that I just continued to volunteer year after year. But, with Case closing in on 10 and after having done it for over 7 year now, I was totally cool with another person taking over and as MacArthur said "simply fading away". Alas, that was not to be, lol. For whatever reason, everyone is terrified of crafts and doing it for almost 100 elementary school kids on average makes most people run for the hills. So when they asked, I thought "ok, I'll do it one more year". The theme this year was cooking and I have to say, although it was very challenging to integrate cooking with learning about God and Jesus, I think I was pretty successful. And better yet, the children LOVED it! My thing is to have crafts that make them use both gross and fine motor skills and a variety of different mediums and textures if possible, so I never order the kits from the VBS company (of course, Oriental Trading and I know each other well and communicate regularly- ie they send about 3000 unsolicited magazines to me each year, lol). I also design the craft to relate to the bible verse or special message of the day. I feel it makes it more salient for the kids. Anyway, here are some of the crafts we did:
Of course, I had a wonderful time with the kids again and loved seeing their faces as they made the connection between our food theme and the Bible. Ok, the fact I had pictures up of famous Disney chefs and songs from "Ratatouille", "Lady and the Tramp"(Bella Notte), "Beauty and the Beast" (Be Our Guest), "Finding Nemo (La Mer), and various other french accordion songs (yes, there are albums available on iTunes! who woulda thunk it? lol) probably added to my enjoyment. Still, I'll be doing it again next year and probably more after that once we return home with our son.
Ah, you are wondering about our status- well, we have not heard anything solid yet, but it has only been just over 3 months. I know others have waited wayyyy longer. So we're patient and optimistic. The one thing I was hoping for was to have our first trip before Case started school, but we can't plan everything, right? We have filled the hours with boating, swim lessons, yard projects, and blueberry picking. Here is our over-designed, over-engineered, over-everything firepit and rec area that we decided to complete when the temps spiked 97-99. Nice timing, right? lol It is 45in in diameter and turned out great (and no, it isn't a kit):
Here we are picking blueberries- hard to see but the trees were dripping with them- and me and my boy. Brian was busy filling his bucket in another row, "Ka plink, Ka plank, Ka plunk" (How many remember that one? teehee!) *see bottom for answer youngsters
In the meantime, I have been having fun finding out more and more information about our Polish ancestry- which come to find out is much more vast than we realized. We knew Brian was 1/4 Polish on his dad's side and they have always celebrated all sorts of Polish traditions through his grandmother etc. What he didn't know was where the family was originally from and how far back it went. Anyway, we were talking about all this and Brian's dad remembered all kinds of new information nuggets. My F-I-L is getting up there, but he's still as sharp as a tack and frankly didn't even think to tell us some stories, lol. Guess he thought we knew by osmosis? lol But as a result of the new info, we've (I've) found some cool things!
Now, his mom (Brian's babcia) was something of a scandal because she was the first one to not marry a Pole in many generations; instead she married (gasp) an Irishman! At least he was Catholic too, which is probably what her very Polish Catholic parents and large family thought, lol! I'm kidding, they loved her husband loads! Anyway, one cool factoid in particular helped me to find a very distant cousin who had loads of information on Brian's great-great-, great-, and grandparents. Including Brian's grandmother, they were all 100% Polish, but until recently we weren't exactly sure where the hometown was in the old country. Most of the records we had stated Prussia or Poland as birthplaces, but no town. It was pretty common back then and even names changed when they loaded boats because of language barriers, etc. Still, I found this cousin and corresponded with him and lo and behold....I found it! Turns out Brian's family from wayyy back comes from a little town by Gdansk called Kosciercyna. Brian was absolutely thrilled when I told him! We totally want to visit here, even if the adoption takes us elsewhere in country, because how cool is that??! Better yet (wink wink) I scored major points with the father-in-law because he had not heard that name since he was a little boy. lol! Not that I had to, but he was really happy and that made me happy as well! It almost felt like returning a lost heirloom, if you will. Giving them the actual name of their ancestor's hometown was really special, like returning a piece of their history, and helped us to feel even more connected to this wonderful country. Which is why we can't wait to experience it firsthand. This was really the candle on the frosting on the cake :)
And while we would love to see Poland ourselves, we have definitely been enjoying it secondhand, lol! During the waiting period, I have definitely had my attention shifted by all the HAPPY NEWS so many of my fellow adoptive mommies have received! Truly, these are all answers to our many individual and collective prayers. Brooke, Heidi, Kara, Renee, Jennifer, Tracy....holy cow! The pure numbers are nothing but God's hand at work! I am absolutely thrilled for each and every one of you and know you will all be loving, fabulous mothers! Someday we will all have to have massive reunions all around the country! And I am overusing my exclamation point!! lol lol Anyway, I love following your journeys and for all the encouragement you give to us. We are happily waiting because we know we can't rush God and He always knows the perfect time. Plus we have our loving, energetic, wonderful son to keep us busy so although we too look forward to receiving our referral, we are happily basking in the beauty and love of your adoptive journeys. Thanks for letting us come along :)
Well, that's it for this installment. I find myself a little lonely right now since I dropped Case off at his first ever stay overnight soccer camp. He's with all his buddies from his soccer club (I was politely dismissed and told I could leave almost as soon as we got him unpacked, lol!). Now, I'm sure he'll have a blast, but its the first time he's been away for so long (3 nights) and I can't help but be a worry-wort. He's smart and a great kid, but he's my baby....and he's growing up fast. I love him to pieces and just don't want to miss a second. :) Oh geez, what will I do when he goes to college??
Until next time dear friends.... :)
*Blueberries for Sal! One of my faves growing up :)
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