Glad We are Boring

Once again I realized how glad I am that we were boring and un-adventuresome (sorta). I  just filled out our child-line and criminal records forms. You need to write every address that you lived at since 1975 AND every person you lived with since 1975 AND their age today...that list is a bit lengthy.


Just glad that we each only have one other address since 1975.

It is sort of interesting to see the reaction of Joe and Hope about the paperwork. "You have to do all that?"
The other day we were talking about some of the questions that the agency brought up about us adopting again "so soon" and Joseph said "Maybe I should talk to the lady?"

Did It!

Managed it!

PS: that little darling is fast asleep b/c it is 10PM. Her favorite bedtime saying "Night, night, wo ai ni, I love you, don't let the bug bites get you."


But because it is paper pieced I still needed to pick out all the little pieces of paper that were my pattern.

So we put on some music "That's What Faith Can Do" by  Kutless
"Light you Candle" by Chris Rice

And "He Reigns" by Newsboys

How's that for a sedate mamma? Every now and again my then-teenage son came home with some music that I liked ...then he wasn't sure if HE liked it anymore.







A saying from Hope: "Mama, are porkchops made from llama?"  !!??? whatever

I Think I can...I think I Can...

Yesterday it looked like this....

today it looks like this....

When you have your own business and you want the bottom line to look as good as possible for the dossier....well anyway, I have a few days left of this year.  I guessed at Ray's final YTD and came within $20.  I didn't even try to estimate mine...I have 3 small (very small) businesses and it's always a surprise what the final number looks like.

So I'm hoping to add this $$ to my bottom line. Think I can get it done by Friday?

Christmas

Somehow I didn't get too many pictures. Guess my hands were busy doing other things.

 Yeah, I did....got him a set of harmonicas....

Faith did recover well enough to open gifts on Saturday evening, then emptied the house quickly when she tossed her egg roll...bummer!  She was fine all night, so we chalked it up to - too much too soon.
We were thankful that my newest nephew could make an appearance on Christmas day, we all tried to stay away from him and not share any germs.


They could use your prayers. Pierre Robin "ro-bane"  (type of cleft palate) looks like quite a challenge. Little one keeps getting his tongue in the wrong position and then he can't breathe well.  He is their 5th child, she could definitely use an extra hand.

This is the kind of birthday cake you get when you have to share it with your cousin and your mom made you a "half birthday" cake back in August.  We were clean out of "4"'s  so you have to imagine the 14 and elder cousin is 18 and did not hold still long enough for a picture.

See, he did get a real cake earlier....13.5 years...not 135


This week we are going to try to do the odd jobs that should be done....just in case we ever get to the home study part of this adoption. Like re-carpet the stairs....

Hold the Bucket

Hold the bucket, wipe the mouth, try to sleep...repeat every hour until
morning....go to school (leave the sick one with daddy who is off work
today) and be "classroom mom" for 5th grade....help clean the
school...come home...take a nap...hold the bucket...make potstickers for
tomorrow night's party-that-might-not-happen-because-we-are-hosting-a-bug.
(Thankfully  sick person#1 is better...waiting for the next shoe to drop)

Trying to keep a smile on my face since this is about Jesus' birth and not
about parties.

Praying for my brother's family...their 2wk old baby is in the hospital so
they can evaluate his cleft palate and see how severe his breathing
difficulty is....

What did you do today?

Hard Quilt Easy Quilt

I like a challenge when I am making a quilt, but sometimes enough is ENOUGH and I get a chance to make an easy quilt...but sometimes the results are almost the same!  I really like the effect of the colors with the simple pattern.
Disclaimer: Neither of these quilts was my color choice...they just brought me the fabric and I made the pattern they chose.

Need a Gift?

I know it is a little late to order a Christmas gift, but I just had to share this book. ( I don't get any kickbacks)
My youngest daughter posed for the pictures in the book, big sister is in one of the pictures too. The artist took photos at our house and then transformed them into oil paintings and best of all the book is an adoption story.  Find it here

Not Fun

Was so delighted on Mon AM when I went on line to order the carpet that
we had looked at on Saturday. Found out the color we chose WAS ON SALE!!
Saved $40.
Then minutes later I got an e-mail from our HS agency...basically saying
"Are you sure that you have approval? You know you don't meet Ch*na's
income requirements."
Yes, we DO know that. That is why we waited 2 weeks for an approval.
Somehow she does not quite trust something in the process and I'm not
sure why...this is the exact same process as we had the last
time....just some new employees.
My heart has been all over the place today....'Way down in my toes,
saying "Lord, we asked you to stop this whole adoption if it is against
your will...but NOT after we told everyone."
To "We will push through every mountain, because she needs a mommy and
a daddy and (even though she doesn't know it) a whole bunch of siblings"
Obviously went through a few tissues today....tonite the adoption agency
lady called and sounded very confident that she can work things through
with the HS agency....tomorrow. (The pleasures of working on 2 different
coasts)

I'm Focused.....

I'm focusing very intently on two little letters (PA) and I see a
mountain of paperwork in our future!

Yes we are very blessed.

PT

We started OT a few weeks ago and Joe has been working his wrist and
thumb quite a bit...it is discouraging because the scar tissue seems so
much stronger than we are.
Last week he had a PT eval....we received the report on Sat and while I
was reading the first part...the phrase "mom says" was repeated several
times...A little voice in my head said "the PT lady thinks you are too
picky...Joe is right."

Then I got to the part about HER observations...she had the same
concerns as I...actually noticed that he does not sit up straight.

Her goals actually exceeded mine!

So thankful for backup....I really don't care about slouching, but I
think it has its roots in- a little boy making himself as small and un-
noticed as possible....and I DO care about that.

Quite a few of the core muscles are weak -- if he wouldn't have the
added issues with his prosthesis he would have gained all that muscle on
his own...so here's a salute to the PT's and the OT's out there!

I Lied...

This therapy stuff is HARD. Don't get me wrong, I'm so glad for the ladies that help us figure out ways for this new wrist to stretch and learn to move. I'm so glad for the back-up...they push him and tell us that I was letting him off easy.

BUT
it's still hard.
We are driving 1 hour  three times a week. He is missing school for the appointments...so there is homework to make up. When we started I said "we can stick this out for 3 months"

And we will.

Yesterday the PT evaluated his walking....the new legs were great....the first day....(we will be starting therapy for that too)  Oh and the hamstrings are very tight (thus the picture)   the expression is from being told he should do stretches

Then he developed a blister behind his one knee ...so to avoid pain...we developed a wonderful limp...even when it doesn't hurt. Some habits are very easy to start.

Last night I thought we had a breakthrough..we were talking about how we walk and how we swing our legs (try to explain walking to someone...his center of balance is different and now his legs are the same length..for the first time in a very long time)
Anyway, suddenly he seemed to get it...he strode confidently through the kitchen...couldn't even hear that it was Joseph walking...sounded like one of the others.
WOW! wonderful!...didn't even hurt....felt good!

This morning...got out of the car at therapy..same old story...I tried to coach and remind him what we learned last evening....I got snapped at...when I asked if his voice means that he is angry at me...he said "YES!"

I decided I need to walk the other direction before I say something I should not....
you see, yesterday when the PT asked him for his goals with therapy...he said "so mama doesn't think I walk funny."

OhKAAAY!  We explained and I thought he understood that this if for HIS benefit, not MINE! Apparently I have been coming across that way...so I guess I will be backing off.
I told him later that I don't even care if he walks...it is up to him...

That is where the lie comes in...I do care...a whole lot!! 

I need to talk to him ....with DH present and somehow convey how this mothering thing works...

Any advice?

More on Feeding the Multitude

A while ago I did a post of feeding a sort of large family. We only have 5 children each evening, but 3 are teen aged (or almost) boys and one is a 9 y.o. girl that can put away the food.

The most expensive thing out there is meat and next to that is milk...I just saw that Swiss brand was over $4 a gallon at Wallyworld today. Maybe we need to go time share on a cow.
For meat I shop at a bulk food/almost expired food store. In this area there are many large families and we have a number of stores like this. The chicken I referred to in my other post had been frozen, probably just before its expiry date. Each bird was tied like the rotisserie chicken you buy at the "clubs" so it probably came from a place like that.
I honestly don't know how I would feed this bunch if we did not have a store like this.  I do know that soups  make the meat stretch further.

Last night I made a soup with some left over ham...I had bought a bone in ham a while ago and after I baked it I sliced and froze the rest. I threw the ham (almost 2 pounds) and about 12 potatoes and 7 carrots in a big kettle. Added some chicken bouillon/broth and a bit of pepper. Cooked it till the carrots were soft. Added a few slices of American cheese and served.

Now...the biggest waste at our house is the leftovers that get shoved to the back of the fridge and when I find them...well, lets just say that green ham and eggs makes a good story, but lunch?
I try to be prepared for leftovers and if I purposely make a big pot of soup, I have a couple of quart jars ready  along with lids and rings. Fill the jars with boiling hot soup. Wipe the rims, pop on the lids and tighten the rings.  With a pot holder, flip the jars upside down (careful!!)  and let set for a few minutes. (Doing this makes the lid hot and helps seal the jar.)  After supper is cleared away. Store these quart jars in the back of your fridge...if they stay there a month they will still taste good, as long as they stay sealed.

The reason I scoop out the soup before I serve the food?  There are fewer contaminants in the food at that point than if you wait till the whole family has scooped around in the kettle and it has cooled.

If the left-overs are a surprise....put the kettle back on the burner and bring everything to a good boil...add liquid if needed...then place in the jars like explained above.

Now remember I am not an expert...these jars should stay in your fridge. If you ever open a jar and it smells "off"   don't eat it!  But this has saved me a bunch of waste and is a quick meal for one of those busy nights.

Sandwich meat is the other expensive thing. I don't pay $3 a pound for the meat I put on the supper table, why would I spend that much for a lunch box?  I have not broke them of the habit of good sandwich meat (turkey and ham)  so I only buy a pound and by Wednesday or Thurs. it is gone and they get peanut butter...that is a bit less expensive.  ( Our schools do not have a hot lunch program..well, if you don't count the mom-run program that gives us hot lunch twice a month)

Breakfast?  finally I can make oatmeal for breakfast and they all eat it...the picky eater got married :^)  (see if he reads the blog)

Use milk instead of water for cooking the oatmeal and add pancake syrup for sweetening.   Or if I'm on time, I flip pancakes...add an egg or two to the batter for some protein. And some vanilla and cinnamon for flavor.

Oh and spinach? Buy it in a big tub. I had this one for almost 3 weeks, bought it at Sa*'s Club and frying it and eating it with odd things like pizza, mix it raw with spaghetti. Some of the kids are trying it (Joe) and I like it...maybe it will catch on.
Actually the best way to eat this stuff is ...
Heat oil in a large frying pan...add some minced garlic...after that turns nice and brown...throw in the spinach and turn off the burner...it cooks very quickly..do this at the last minute.

You can do broccoli like this too...it takes a bit longer to cook and usually need to add water to help steam it a bit.