Car talk

Igor holds many things close to the vest.   Some days he freely gives information but most days getting him to talk is like prying open a clam with your fingernails.  I've noticed that being in the car allows for a little more information to be shared.
Today Igor and I were driving to his eye appointment and some how we started talking about work.  I asked him how he would feel if I went back to work.  All he said was -NO.
me- why not?  You are in school all day.
Igor- I like for you to be at home.

me- I use to work.
Igor- Remember when I was 3 and 4 years old and you went to work?
Me- Yes.

Igor- I didn't like it.
me- But daddy stayed home with you.
Igor- I know.  But I wanted to be with you all the time.
me- oh.
 Igor is 8 years old, this is the first time he has ever expressed his desire for me to stay home with him.  I guess I should never under estimate my work as a stay at home mom.  I think we should ride in the car more often.

The finances of adoption

We started our adoption journey for our daughter in January 2010.  We had used American World Adoption for our previous adoptions and we decided to use them again.  We were delighted when we received the phone call from AWAA saying we were accepted into Ethiopia program to adopt our daughter.

When we moved forward with this adoption we had close to the estimated amount of $18,00-24,000 it would cost to adopt our daughter. In March, we received news that Ethiopia changed their policies on adoption.  Ethiopia now requires a family to travel to Ethiopia twice in order to complete the adoption.  That meant an increase in our total adoption costs,  it will now be somewhere around $32,000.00.  gulp....  When we heard the news we stopped and asked ourselves should we continue to move forward or was this a sign to stop.  After several days of discussion and prayer we felt God's prompting to move forward with our adoption.  We have cut back on many expenses and eliminated others in order to save as much money as possible each month.  We need an additional $6,000 to bring our daughter home. 

In June, we applied for financial assistance with LifeSong for Orphans.  In July, we received the call saying we were approved!  Anyone who wants to be a part of our adoption journey is encouraged to:

1. Pray for our family as we wait to be matched with our daughter.
2. Pray for our daughter in Ethiopia, that she may be well loved and cared for until she is in our arms!
3. Will you please consider making a tax-deductible donation to help us pay for the remaining $6,000 to bring our daughter home?

Lifesong has graciously set up a fundraising account to help bring our daughter home.  If you would like to be a part of our adoption journey, you can send your tax-deductible gift between now and September 20th to the address below. Lifesong is a trusted organization administering the funds on our daughter's behalf, and will pay adoption expenses out of funds received.

You may donate two ways:

By check- Please make checks payable to: Lifesong.  In the memo section indicate our last name and #1417 Adoption. (*Note: In following IRS guidelines, your donation is to Lifesong which retains full discretion and control over its use.) Mail checks to:
Lifesong for Orphans
Att: #1417 Adoption
PO Box 40 / 202 N. Ford St.
Gridley, IL 61744

You may also donate via Pay Pal on Lifesong's donate page - click here..  In the purpose section please state our last name and #1417 Adoption.


We thank you for investing in the Kingdom through prayer and finances – it will be an investment with an eternal return! We’ll give you an update with a picture of our daughter and details as we receive them.

What gets ignored is translated as unimportant

I am way behind in reading blogs.  This morning I read Kevin's blog.  Growing up adopted in a transracial household, Kevin has thoughts all adoptive parents should read.
Take a minute to read his blog posting from June.

What is so suspicious about a young man sitting under a tree at the library?

I read an article in the paper about a young black man who reportedly had a gun across the street from a school.  The good news- the police got the "bad guy" and he is in jail.   That sounds great on the evening news or as a blurb in the paper  but that's not how this story plays out.  As a mom to a Ethiopian child (who is black) and a mom to a child who was diagnosed with institutional autism, this story breaks my heart on so many levels.  As I read more about the facts, I see the story is much more than reported. 
Here's what I read:

• Someone calls the police saying they saw a suspicious man at the library with a gun.
• Schools go into lockdown
• police officers are dispatched
• officer sees suspect and question him
• Suspect gets irate, attacks officer
• suspect breaks free
• Canine unit finds suspect
• Suspect arrested

  Okay- above is my abbreviated version. 


Click here for the complete story

 The part that wasn't in the newspaper:

• Investigators never found a gun, and now say the initial caller never actually saw a weapon
• The young man was waiting for the library to open (outside the library!)
• The young man has autism
• Schools are locked down because of false report
• An innocent man is being chased by the police and hunted down by dogs
• an officer is hurt

Someone saw a young, black man sitting under tree at the library.  This person assumed the young, black man was bad and had a gun.  The police were called.  Seriously?  This is 2010, why would you ASSUME any of that?  What made this person call the police?  If the young man were white would the call have been made?  Should this young man be in jail because someone reported he had a gun?
I wonder - what if this happened to Igor or Henry.  What would I be feeling as a mother and what should "justice" look like for all involved?
Here's the mom's version of the story

For more news coverage, articles and how you can help click here

Vacation

This year our vacation money is going toward our adoption.  We still wanted to get away so we vacationed at Rob's Aunt and Uncle's house and at Rob's parents home.... maybe we should call it Famcation instead of vacation?  We had an awesome time.  Here are a few pictures that summarize what we did all day

Summer

Igor asked me if today was the first day of July.  I said yesterday was.  His reply- This summer sure is going FAST!
The boys are having fun this summer.  here's a few pictures

we are a foster family to a hermit crab

enjoying the children's museum

 

water balloons on a hot day

sneaking up on dad

 finding the perfect spot for getting others wet

 

Henry

Henry loves to wake up early- before 6AM.  Most mornings Rob puts Henry back in his room to play until we are ready to get up.  The other morning I went to get Henry and this is what I found

25 feet of Christmas wrap decorating the floor of his room.