yummy and a little not yummy

we were blessed to have been invited camping with our friends F and T. the campground was only about a ten minute drive away, which was great by me, as S and B have never been real camping. we have practiced in our backyard, but so far daddy hasn't had enough time off from work to go. we took both cars just in case anyone wanted to sleep in their own bed.

we headed up on Saturday morning. the site T chose was perfect. right by the water. a short walk to a portapotty. and mostly private.

view from our shore to the back of the hall

T had the place all set up with an outdoor kitchen in the screen house, living area around the campfire, and sleeping areas for tents. that's my kind of camping.

the foliage was fabulous...best in years

T and B being silly, their dog, nutmeg, is not impressed

F and T with the kids

we didn't plan it, but the camp owners were hosting a Polish Potluck with an authentic Polka band for entertainment. we brought a cabbage and sauerkraut crock pot dish. the spread was AMAZING. hot dogs, hamburgers, kielbasa, chicken, baked potatoes, corn on the cob, stuffed cabbage rolls, casseroles, salads, coleslaws, and a slew of other dishes. yummy!

after we ate, the kids played on the beach while the band pumped polka music through the recreation hall and throughout the "wilderness."

F and B hanging out by the fire

because we are in the mid-autumn festival of the Chinese lunar calendar, a special friend, the translator we re-met at the doctor's appointment and we met at the dragon boat races last year, gave us traditional mooncakes. they are a Chinese treat that you give to friends and loved ones during this festival time. we saved them for this weekend because it is S's birthday week...stay tuned...b-day pictures will be coming.

let me tell you something about mooncakes...i think you need to be Chinese to appreciate their flavor and texture. we appreciated the decorative work in the cakes, but the flavor was lost on us. not yummy. the texture was weird too. let's just say we wouldn't give them to our friends-we'd like to keep them as friends, but we love Annette for loving on us.

the big one had an egg yolk inside...ummm...ok...

daddy could not find an appreciation for these little "treasures"

ok, so the mooncakes were not a favorite...but s'mores were

yummy

daddy took the kids back up to the hall to do some dancing while the other adults chilled by the fire drinking hot spiced brandy cider...yummy.

dance that mooncake and s'mores sugar out of your bods before coming back to share a tent with me! 

the kids settled down by 10:30 and the big people sat by the fire laughing and enjoying the company. the next morning we got up and snacked on pop-tarts and mini donuts while F cooked up bacon, hashbrowns, and eggs in a giant iron kettle. yummy.

on the way home, i just had to stop at the top of our pond and take some pictures of my neighbors' trees.





eye candy...yummy

because daddy has to work open to close the next 6 days, we had a small birthday party for S, who turns 14 tomorrow!

yummy

S loves her new Yoshi Remote Control Kart.

then yet another God sighting...

rain had intermittently poured and misted on us all weekend. i was on the phone with my mother and she said she saw a rainbow, so when we heard thunder in our town, yet saw sunshine, B and i ran around like mad women trying to see a rainbow. we have chased rainbows all summer and have yet to see one.

so worth the wait! we had a quadruple rainbow happening. the big one was a rainbow spectrum in both directions- that was two. then there were two more less bright rainbows above the big one that came and went with how the clouds were breaking. we all ran down the street for a better look snapping pictures and exclaiming "wow" over and over again. not caring that we were getting soaked. E and A pounded on the neighbors' doors telling them to come see.

hard to see...but it is a quadruple rainbow

walking back home completely soaked and exhilarated, B said that was the first rainbow she has ever seen. another gift of first. Praise God. i took that as a opportunity to read the children the Bible story of Noah and God's Covenant with us and the reminder that rainbows are evidence of God's promise. i read it to B in english and S read it with E in chinese. it was a perfect 26 hours. so thankful, so peaceful, so blessed. so yummy.  







chimes and timers

today was the day B got her new ears as we are calling it.

she chose light blue for the computer parts and purple, black, and white swirls for the ear pieces. when we got home, she found the fancy stickers in her "kit" to further decorate them and chose a zebra print pattern that goes on the blue piece. they are sure something else!

they are not amplifiers like i thought that hearing aids were, but instead they have tiny computers in the aids, which take the higher range sound waves and compresses them to a point her brain can recognize and process. now she will be able to hear ssss, shh, sch, zh, zz, th, and tz sounds. i can't wait to see how much more language she acquires now that she will be able to hear EVERYTHING. poor A won't be able to sneak up on B and scare her anymore(a favorite form of terrorizing siblings in our household). A is a bit disappointed. B is most likely relieved.

this is the machine that calibrates and programs the hearing aids to specifically combat her hearing loss. i took some great video of the process, but Blogger is having trouble uploading it. i'll try again another day to get it posted.

wincing...oh my...too loud.

i asked her on the way home if there was anyone she wanted to stop by and see to show off her new ears. she said, "yes, nix and gramma." so we stopped by gramma's house on the way home. while visiting on their front porch she smiled and pointed to the wind chimes hanging above the porch. i asked, "could you hear those before?" she replied, "a little." i think more than a little. the fact that she noticed them and pointed them out leads me to believe that this was a new experience.

later we stopped by to show nix. we also visited on her porch and when her oven timer went off, B snapped her head up and peered into the kitchen to see what was making that noise. hmmm, she can hear timers now too! how lovely to be present for her first sounds(well with me at least...maybe she heard them before the nerve damage...we'll never know).

i am amazed that God has seen fit to bless us with so many firsts. parents of young children often take these tiny treasures for granted. we haven't completely lost out on her life, those ten years before we came into the picture, we are just being given different experiences and firsts to celebrate with her. for as much loss adoption holds, there are equally as many gains.

after we got home she asked to take them off. she stated all afternoon that everything was too loud. the audiologist explained to us that it might take upwards of a week for her brain to learn to process all these new sounds. she suggested we give her small breaks in the afternoon for some stimulus reduction. i am good with that. because i know that these tiny things are making a difference. she is going to want to wear them.

one more thought. i wonder at how lucky we are to have access to modern medical intervention. she did not have access to full hearing for her entire life and most likely would never have if she had stayed in China. yes, she has the gift of family now, but she also has gifts we never imagined a child might need. i feel a stronger sense of gladness that God brought her here. it is a better life for her.

tonight while making dinner she said to me very softly, "mom, i love america."

yes, little one, and God loves you!

six months already

in just 10 days we will be celebrating our six month Gotcha anniversary. wow. this time last year we were waiting for our LID. funny how time speeds by.

BaoQing referral picture

B six months home

XiYuan referral picture

S six months home 

oh how our girls have blossomed! i am so proud of them.

PRAISE JESUS FOR YOUR REDEEMING POWER. THANK YOU JEHOVAH JIREH FOR ALL THINGS. BLESSED BE YOUR HOLY NAME.

eight eyes

S and A got new glasses today. A already wore glasses, but hers fell apart after two years. we never did have an accidentally broken pair. i am sure we will be back at the store getting new ones in the next three months. we have a "bull in a china shop" type of kid in the house now. i suspect she will sit or step on someone's glasses in no time.

i thought S would have a "moment" when the optician put the glasses on her for the first time. her prescription is pretty significant. i took out the video camera and was so excited to see her reaction...chirp, chirp went the cricket sound effect...

for a child who has never seen clearly, she sure was unimpressed. perhaps her brain doesn't recognize her vision correction after all these years. we'll see if over the next few days she figures out she can see. i remember when i needed glasses a few years ago, i marveled at clear vision. i kept taking the glasses off and putting them on, delighted by the difference. well, at least there wasn't a negative reaction.

 A in her new glasses.

 A and S glasses shopping.

S enjoying all the fuss over her new look.

shhh...i'm hunting wrabbits

i have posted before about hiding out when life gets too much. i kept thinking about blogging, but couldn't bring myself to post.

the thought of family and friends not knowing what was new with us was bothering me. i know what it is like to be a blog stalker. i have been stalking www.nogreaterjoymom.blogspot.com for months-sometimes several times a day lately. 

i told myself i wasn't hiding, just had nothing to blog about. 

overwhelmed/in the weeds? nah...shhh...i'm just hunting wrabbits. i'm hunkered down in the weeds, so those pesky wrabbits can't see me. oh say can you say DENIAL?  

i started avoiding people who look forward to my posts so that they wouldn't get a chance to ask me why no posts?

i had lots of excuses. all valid.

i'm busy. can't a girl just be busy?

yet when i looked back to see the last post, it hit me in the gut. i AM hiding and am well aware of why too.

my last post was on 8/10. then i met with an international adoption therapist on 8/13. i can't share the horror of what we learned about one of our daughters here, but it was like the world dropped out from under my feet. how could my child have survived the things the experts say she has experienced? will she ever recover? LORD DRAW HER CLOSE PLEASE. HEAL HER HURT MERCIFUL FATHER.

just two hours later we learned that B is moderately deaf and needs hearing aids. the poor audiologist expected some sort of reaction from me when she broke the news. i didn't have any. i told her that nothing could trump the news i had that morning. i can't imagine much worse. hearing aids? bring 'em on!

so off to ENT, more audiology, physical therapy, ophthalmology, occupational therapy, speech therapy and neurology we go.

it has been a whirlwind of doctors appointments. we have had 11 appointments since the 13th and have over 14 more in the next three weeks. the man at reception at our local children's hospital/medical center stopped me on the way out last week and exclaimed, "wow! you have been here alot lately." i replied, "yup at least twice a week for the next three months." i can now say we are on a first name basis. wonder how he takes his coffee?

can i use my parking garage fees as a tax deduction???

i have become so anxious and overwhelmed. i was waiting on help from God. i do that alot lately. actually, i have never depended on Him so much as i have throughout our adoption journey. if i just sit still and wait, He will send aid, right?

last night i was watching a game show on GSN called the Great American Bible Challenge. teams test their Bible knowledge to win money for charity. anyway this well known verse came up and i let out a huge sigh...

Philippians 4:6-7

New International Version (NIV)

⁶ Do not be anxious about anything,^(A) but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.^{(B) 7} And the peace of God,^(C) which transcends all understanding,^(D) will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

i brought my worries to Him. i had already been anyway, but this time i did so without anxiety. i asked, with peace in my heart, for Him to look after my worries for me. amazing how He answers when we ask in the right way.

today He granted my prayer.

we met with developmental behavior again. upon arrival, i corrected S's paperwork to say she speaks Mandarin, not English, thinking great-no translator today-ugh...just as a translator showed up for us! woohoo.

hey wait a minute, she looks familiar. she mentioned her church and i almost asked her if it was the chinese church nearby, but the doctor came out to get us. just then, the translator saw A's bag from the festival last year and said, "hey, that is my church." my mouth dropped open, "is your last name Fong?" i asked. it was!

we had met at last year's Dragon Boat Festival. we spoke about getting Chinese Bibles and her daughter emailed me several resources. we even looked for her this year at the festival so she could meet the children we had talked about adopting, but unfortunately she wouldn't be there until the afternoon and i was paddling in the afternoon races.

sidebar...what you paddled? yup! i did...heehee. we lost, but it was fun. that's me waving.

back to my regularly scheduled rant...

we had a new doctor this time. it was tricky to talk about the issues we recently learned about in front of all four kids, so we spoke in code. the doctor totally followed me. she was fabulous. she agreed that traditional school is not appropriate for S at this time. big sigh of relief. finally a professional that agrees with me. she said she doesn't often suggest homeschool, but in our special case, we need to be sensitive to this hurt child. trust me...i'd rather her go to school. i don't have what it takes to teach this level of learning disability and teach three other children, but God is working on that for me. He'll figure it all out.

we will wait until all evaluation is completed before making a decision. hopefully we can find an appropriate alternative school that can nurture her as well as teach her. perhaps in a year or two she will have learned so much that i can bring her back home to teach. for now, i will do my best and trust that God will send help when needed. 

mrs. fong walked out with us and asked to be our translator always. woohoo. i could not say yes fast enough. we are even going out to dinner together next tuesday. here is the God part. S's referral for this appointment did not list us as needing a translator, but they ordered one anyway. then, mrs. fong was not even scheduled today, but her friend was. the friend ended up not having a car, so mrs. fong took her case instead. we did not really use translation services today, so she mostly sat and kept the children busy with origami and drawing paper. 

she wasn't there to be our translator. she was there to minister to us- to show us that God is working on it. be patient child!

this is not the classic case of its a small world. it is a miracle. a God sighting. He gifted me another support in my team. i have renewed hope that i have not felt in over three weeks. 

how can anyone go through this process without God? i ask it all the time, because i am consistently shown that He is here. He is at work. He loves us and is caring for us. i am honored that He is. i don't deserve it. i must be soooo annoying with all my belly aching and worry.

when we don't understand the why, the first thing we ought to do is acknowledge God. His plan is bigger than us. last night my parents Skyped me from Ireland, where they are on vacation. my dad told me they are coming home a week early. he broke his leg falling down some stairs. my first reaction was why did that happen halfway through my mom's dream vacation? hmmm...God has something planned. i just know it.

where in your life are you asking "why?" keep your eyes open for He is at work. i'd love to hear some stories of where God has shown up in your life lately. please feel free to post in my comments.

May He guard and guide and bless your holiday weekend!

fun with food

i know some people bake when they are stressed...shout out to you, aunt joanie!

some people eat. some people sleep. others shop.

i get imaginative with the children's snacks. seriously. two weeks ago i made lunch, but served worms and dirt pudding first. then we ate lunch.   

perhaps it is a peace offering for when i am feeling emotionally absent. like a consolation prize on a sorry gameshow. 

"yes, i have had just about enough of you today, but here's a lovely snack. thank you for playing."

i know it is not nutritious, but remember? it is a bribe so that they don't care about the rainy-day-funky-mood i am in.

what is that i hear???  right now i hear three happy kids chatting over rainy day snacks and chocolate rice milk. oh goody...my plot worked ((evil movie type snicker))!

oh and also a shout out to you my friend, J, who bakes...you know who you are...i can't bake, but i make a mean beignet.

a few weeks ago when i was in my serious funk, i snuck out of the house at 6 AM one saturday morning to pull garlic at the farm with my friends. i got home just as the kids were waking up. my mother had given us a box of beignet mix as a souvenir from her New Orleans trip. for those of you not familiar, there is a famous restaurant called Cafe du Monde, who serves these little square donuts doused with powered sugar. visiting there has always been on my bucket list. so thoughtful mom brought them to me.

all you do is add water to the mix and fry. trust me fellow foodies. total yum factor. i trashed my kitchen, but it was soooo worth it.

 

to score your own beignet mix... http://www.cafedumonde.com/beignets

God bless your day!

got veggies??

our family is blessed to belong to a local CSA. us girls harvest veggies every wednesday.

YUM...

poor little A was standing on a wall picking concord grapes when bees in a hive hanging from a tree attacked her. we quickly cut one of the harvested onions in half and applied them to her head and hand. took the sting right out. she was a brave trooper. 

i am starting to think farming is hazardous to her health. since we joined three summers ago, she has been stung by nettles, cut with razorgrass, scraped and bruised her legs climbing on rocks, and now bitten by yellowjackets. 

wait a minute! all those things happened while playing. let me rephrase that...playing at the farm is hazardous to her health. perhaps she should think about doing even more work...snicker snicker.