We're a home schooling family that adopted a 23 month old from Bayannur SWI in Inner Mongolia in August 2012. Now we're working on growing together as a family.
We had all planned to go to the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore together, but my husband's back pain and appointments kept him home. It was just as well, because the crowds would have driven him crazy.
It was the one free day a year at the zoo. We had never been there before, so we thought this would be a great way to get a peek at this zoo. Everyone else in Baltimore had the same idea. We inched through traffic and hiked through crowds, and we caught a glimpse of the animals.
The girls did not seem to mind the press, though at one point I had to carry one little girl on my back and one in front to keep them from being trampled by the mammoth strollers. I saw a lot more people than animals, but we did enjoy seeing real zebras and rhinos. The monkey house was pretty neat, and the girls squealed when the lemurs hopped from branch to branch.
Our public school friends started last week. We will be making the most of summer for another week, I think. I do find it useful to ease the girls back into school after vacations of any length, so we are doing a bit of spelling and math review, but I let them have more freedom to choose what to do when.
Sapphire is bouncing along with her phonics and numbers.
On Saturday we had a nice time catching up at a family reunion. The girls did not want to leave, but we also wanted to pop by my husband's 20 year high school reunion picnic. He enjoyed catching up with folks. I enjoyed the scenery.
In the adoption world, Gotcha Day is the day you receive your child and what you call the anniversary of that day each year. We are going with the alternative name because we want to celebrate the whole, complete family. Plus, 'Gotcha' is just a little too much slang for me, so we call it Family Day. I've been looking forward to August 13, our first Family Day as a big milestone for some time.
In the morning, I was treated to a rare long and not-too-squirmy snuggle with my little Ruby who took a long time to wake up. Then the girls and I watched home videos of each of them as babies. My husband missed some of Family Day because of some serious back muscle pain and resulting medications that kept him in bed. He made a big effort to get himself ready to go out for a late lunch to celebrate.
Ruby loves tractors.
We had a simple Family Day. We picked up lo mien because that was the first food we fed to Ruby when we tempted out of her post-hand-over-near-comatose state. I got sushi. We took this picnic to Perrydell Dairy where we later visited the baby cows which *thrilled* Ruby.
Perrydell ice cream was also a hit. We chatted about what we liked about our family during the snack.
Then we visited our local library where, unfortunately, the little girls piled up a ridiculous number of board books on the floor for no good reason. After cleaning that up, we headed to the playground outside where some of us faced a little time out and others played.
This is the video I had the bellhop take as Ruby first walked into the huge lobby of the Sheraton in Hohhot (if you can't see it in your email version, go to the blog itself). Here she's just come through the doors where we have been anxiously waiting for about 20 minutes, after waiting, slightly less anxiously, in our room for much longer. We're kneeling smack dab in the center of the not very private lobby, and the very young woman who escorted Ruby from Beijing is the one encouraging her to make friends with us as we attempt to buy her toddler affection with toys and lollypops. In retrospect, one of my frequent prayers was answered. I was praying that she wouldn't burst into tears at her first sight of us.
So, not a really warm reception on Ruby's part, but at least the all out tantrum didn't come for another 20 minutes.
This is the first all-family photo taken when we returned from China a year ago.
This is the most recent one.
Probably
the biggest difference is the fact that Ruby now has no problem letting
her daddy be the one to hold her. A year ago his hug was torture to
her! But I think she's also leaning back on her family instead of trying
to inch away. She's really grown into the family in the last year.
Thanks for all the support we've had in the last twelve months from you all too!
Last week was Vacation Bible School. I had the honor of serving as director for the third year. The organizing gets easier as you know how it will play out, and this year I wasn't rushing off to China midweek!
The kids enjoyed child-friendly worship all week. I loved seeing the little bodies hopping in the pews, singing their hearts out along with the music videos projected on the walls. Somehow I have gone from being a youth grouper terrified of playing a tiny role in a Youth Sunday skit back in the 1990s to someone who can act ridiculous on the stage in front of two churches, wearing a red cape no less.
What I found when I read the God sightings wall one night
Our volunteers bring great expertise to their roles, so things ran pretty smoothly. We minister to 65 different kids during the week, and I'm especially thrilled about the fact that VBS builds a community of kids within the church, giving them a sense of tradition each summer that helps to define their identity as Christians.
We finally found the perfect role for Jasper. He liked being a crew leader. He likes any role, but as a crew leader he could just show up and be himself, no preparations.
I remember thinking last year, as I was emotional about missing three days of VBS, that in twelve months we'd have another daughter bopping around, enjoying it. Ruby did just fine. She was a little nervous the first day, but once I got her to her first station she went with her crew and even learned to do some of the hand motions to songs.
On Saturday I took Pearl and Sapphire to the 4-H fair. It was our first time there. It was smaller than we expected, but had everything the girls needed for a great afternoon. We tried to figure out the steer judging, but the bouncy house and face painting part made a lot more sense to us. We enjoyed a dance group from the New Hope Charter School and simple 'carnival' games that, as Sapphire quickly realized, always resulted in a lollypop. At one point I looked over and she had two in her mouth at once.
Pearl fell in love with the snakes the Critter Guy brought. On Saturday she made having a snake seem like a dire need, but I suspect if we don't mention snakes again, we can escape reptile-free.
That evening her daddy took Pearl out for a star gazing event at a local park. They saw a binary star system and several of Saturn's moons.
We're trying to make the most of last few weeks of summer. Today the girls got to flag down the snow cone man for a fleeting, but beloved treat.
Our 4-H families met at Gifford-Pinchot State Park for a few days of cramming crafts to finish before the 4-H fair next weekend. Last year the weather was gorgeous the week we went, and it was just as good this year. (Ruby spent time with her daddy the two days we were gone. They made a trip to Chocolate World and went through four times.)
Our 4-H is a craft based club, so there were boys making hemp bracelets and wood burning, girls quilling, and Pearl getting tips on all of it. The Cloverbuds worked somewhat reluctantly on a tri-fold display for the fair, but they did enjoy designing characters out of bowling pins. The big kids also helped my girls design neat tie dye t-shirts.
quilling
We were a quick walk from the lake beach, and the warm water delighted us all. Sapphire's big wheel made many laps of the campground, and I benefited from the easy-going big kids who seemed perfectly happy to take the girls on long walks.
With them occupied, I learned how to knit. It is slow going, and not as addicting as I had thought it might be. But at least now I have a sense of how it works.
This inch took an hour!
Our last night there the kids gave presentations of their projects. This isn't required of Cloverbuds, but Pearl got some public speaking practice as she explained what went into making her fairy bowling pin. We thought presentations were done, when a very confused Sapphire popped up, holding her bird bowling pin. Had we forgotten her? Now, if I had asked her to present, she would have dug into her camp chair and ignored me, but because no one mentioned it to her, she was eager. She gave a startlingly loud and expressive explanation of her work.
We caught a gorgeous sunset over the lake then skedaddled home to our real beds.
Once the camping things got unpacked, the girls had play practice for the Children of the King Sunday service they are helping with in September (there is a dinner show the afternoon of Sunday Sept 22nd if anyone wants tickets!). And I'm prepping for VBS next week.
