Doing the Works of God

Staying Busy

2011-11-30T10:54:00.001-08:00

With fewer events on the schedule, our clan has been enjoying time doing things that normally don't fit into the school time routine.

The boys worked with Kids Against Hunger and helped make food bags for kids in Africa and here locally. The event was hosted by our football team, the Colts (AKA the worst team in the NFL). However, the kids were pridefully wearing their team shirts, so they managed to land a spot on the news and on A Colts promo video. Aside from those extra bonuses, they really enjoyed working hard and serving knowing that they were helping kids at aren't as fortunate as themselves. I loved the hairnets. Notice I did not take my own picture in such hideous garb.

We have also enjoyed family art time where we all create art in the style of our featured artist of the week. Look real hard and you might see some Picasso. Squint and stand about 50 feet away from the computer and you might see it. Maybe. We may need some lessons.

My latest interest is Pinterest where I get all kinds of crazy ideas. I recently decided to merge a couple of pins to create my own monstrosity. Nisha loves her Toms shoes, but now that she has burned holes through two pairs, I needed a quick fix. Thanks to a lovely pin, I saw that one can decoupage anything. Throw in some glitter ( Nisha's favorite) and we now have better than new, original Toms. what do you think? My Toms are next on the glitter band.

So this week we are finishing up another craft project that will be donated to a sale to benefit The Gathering Place, a ministry to the dying. The kids have made ornaments, embossed candy boxes with a heat gun, and have carefully ( and not so carefully) packaged their goods. I almost didn't make it through the heat gun part. Hopefully the ornaments will bring in some money to help others, although if they don't we won't let the kids know. More pictures of the finished product to come.

There you have it. . . In a nutshell.

Swan Lake, Here We Come!

2011-10-29T12:17:00.001-07:00

This is Nisha at the Indianapolis Ballet School (she is the youngest student and couldn't walk in a straight line without tripping two years ago).

YouTube Video

She continues to add a little flair. . .

YouTube Video

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Hello Again

2011-10-28T04:58:00.000-07:00

Hello, nice to see you again, old friend. It has been a time ridiculously since updating. However, this is the easiest way I know to chronicle life's happenings. Perhaps a bulleted list is the best way to update. More details and pictures to follow. Probably. Maybe.

1) Nisha is doing quite well in public K. Her fan club awaits her arrival to school each morning waiting outside of the school. She still doesn't know all their names. They walk in like they own the place, dressed in their bright tights, sparkling shoes, and fluffy skirts. Parent teacher conferences went well as well as the IEP conference. The new school is better than I expected in many ways. I pleasantly find Nisha correcting her own speech and showing signs of caring about diction. Good news.

2) There is nothing new on the health front. She won the perfect attendance award for the first quarter, which was incomprehensible in years past. I haven't taken out my ruler to measure the ear spot ( or any others$, so this could be blissful ignorance. Why wake a sleeping baby? She goes back to the clinics in January.

3) The boys continue to homeschool with an eclectic mix of classical materials. We are pushing through grades 2 and 4. The kids still attend classes one day per week, which sucks up much time and efforts. We have learned much and had great experiences, but I constantly struggle with balancing what we need to do at home with the work of keeping the "school" running. To everything there is a season. We changed a lot of curriculum this year, which has been fun and added new challenges. More on that later.

4) We continually think of all the orphans world wide and feel compelled to do something. While we don't think international adoption is on the radar, Aaron and I both agree that we are called to help. We didn't adopt to expand our family, rather because we feel that all people who are able to (especially Christians) should do so. We can't ignore the ugliness of homelessness and rejection by turning the other way. So, we find ourselves in the think tank. Life is short and we aren't promised tomorrow. We both realized that we need to continue with something. At this point that is a big first step as we didn't think life after the first adoption was possible- seriously there are still days that we wonder about surviving the teenage years. :) We trust that God will lead us in only His timing and provide clear guidance.

5) Extras. It is my firm belief that every child should have some sort of hobby, passion, or interest in which they can feel successful. Nisha is being trained at the ballet academy in ballet and tap. Parents aren't allowed in class as it is a hard core program. However, tomorrow Aaron is permitted a sneak peak. He will video, and I will post. It should be entertaining. Both boys are three songs away from being level three students, which they feel is so close to level 10. Optimists they are. They recently played for their biggest audience yet at the Riley Fest. They did well despite the panicked look on their faces from the pressing crowd. I will post a couple of videos from the recent solo recital soon. They continue with their Suzuki training and practice about one hour each day.

6) Aaron continues teaching at his high school. After winning his Teacher of the Year Award last year, he has been asked to sit in on a number of committees. Don't you just love committees?

I think that he only attends the meetings that offer free food or beer. :) I am sure he will enjoy reading that line. He continues to enjoy his job, which has been a true blessing. He may join me in my grading efforts and score the AP tests this summer. We continue to tag team juggling work, kids, and household duties. Tague Team, back again, party on , party on. . . How do you like that flashback?

I think that covers it. That covers the majority.

Signing off. See ya real soon. . .

Meet the Special Olympics Fitness Crew

2011-09-26T08:24:00.000-07:00

That's my crew. Station 7. Ring Toss. Indiana Special Olympics. Family volunteer opportunities are few and far between, so we jumped at the opportunity to serve at the state competition. Truthfully, the prep went something like this: "Nisha, be sure to keep any comments to yourself. The people you will see may look or act different than we do. Just smile and be friendly." After a recent incident where she told the cafeteria workers at school that their cheese burgers tasted like poop burgers, I thought that we should cover our basis. Back to the story. All went well. Nisha and Eden chased errant frisbees, Asher led people through the competition, Aaron was in charge of traffic throw, and I cheered wildly when an occasional frisbee landed in the bucket. How I miss working with that population on a full time basis. We all agreed that the day was well spent and that we should all strive to be more joyful enjoying even the simplest pleasures. We will be back next year. Aaron and I are super proud of our crew!

Playing Penrod

2011-09-10T14:08:00.001-07:00

They boys were asked to play at The Penrod Art Fair this morning, which is a large, outdoor festival displaying music, dance, visual arts, and artists from all walks of life. Both kids played in their respective ensembles and Asher soloed playing Handel's "Chorus" from Judas Macabeus. As previously stated, I have one kid that can pull off a solo without worry. In fact, he rarely fumbles and even plans funky outfits and hair styles to spice up his performances. However, Asher playing in public is like tossing the dice. Sometimes he wows, sometimes he bow wows. I know it is just a matter of experience and recognize that consistency is coming with more stage time. Admittedly, I almost have a panic attack for him when I know he is scheduled to solo. Seriously, I pit out my clothes ( interesting verb choice, huh?).However, I am happy to report that this morning he approached the lime light with confidence and pulled off the song with a smile. In my few minutes of nerves ( without breath), I forgot to record it. Kids, please accept these after shots as documentation that you did an amazing job! So, I think that a new era is upon us- one where both kids approach the stage with joy and peace and their mother goes home with a dry shirt.

Afterwards we visited several artists and dabbled in a few projects like Japanese paper printing and painting. One of my goals for my kids is to appreciate and enjoy things that are lovely- art, dance, literature, music. With continued exposure and experience, we are gaining ground in this area. Until then, I continue to drag them to concerts, storytellings, art displays, and museums. Let the fun continue.

In addition to their classical music studies, the kids joined a fiddling group. Asher is the lone cellist carrying the bass line and Eden is the tiny violinist. They are scheduled to debut in the spring. While I am not a fan of country or mountain music, the kids get a hoot out of playing songs like "Boil Down the Cabbage" and "The Old Cluckled Hen." Consequently, Eden's Bach piece ended with a "shave and a haircut" yesterday. Good times.

She's Six!

2011-09-07T16:21:00.001-07:00

On Sunday, Miss Nisha turned six! At our church, if your birthday is on a Sunday, you are serenaded by the congregation. Nisha had her bows planned put for weeks. She ended up being shy, but relished the attention of a couple hundred people for her few minutes of fame. This year was much more exciting than others because she now plays with toys. Her all time favorites are Playmobil, her dolls, princess items, and craft supplies. How refreshing not to have a "shadow" at all times. :)

I think this will be a great year of progress in all areas for Nisha. She continues to loose her teeth, grow taller, make social gains at school, pursue friendships, improve academically (she is still completing an abbreviated homeschool program after school), and the negative behaviors at home are subsiding. Sometimes I look at her and can't believe how far we have come. I still need to post before and after pictures so you can stand in awe with me. God has done amazing things this year!

Health Update

2011-08-22T16:34:00.001-07:00

I officially fired the dermatologist. Although she is a highly sought after practitioner, she got the axe. We went for a check up two weeks ago and she said it was too difficult to tell if Nisha's skin had changed (pretty important for stopping Melanoma). On some levels, I can understand the difficulty, but she is the one paid to spot it, not me. Keep in mind 60% of Nisha is covered in one giant mole that may be smooth, textured, knotty, fleshy, hairy, variegated, or strange. It is difficult to monitor. However, the doc looked her over in about 5 minutes (that was my first clue) and deemed her fine. Despite almost three years and several surgeries of history, I decided that I could do a better job. I just saved myself several hundred dollars per year. :)

Today we went to the plastic surgeon, AKA the best doctor ever for any issue. He is tough to get into to see, but has a special fondness for Nisha and served her well in lieu of oncologists and several other specialists when we first started this journey. He photographs her, takes precise measurements, and keeps detailed drawings. After 5 minutes with him, he quickly pointed out a new spot of concern INSIDE her ear. Who looks there? Not me. Not the skin specialist. Good thing he did though, because on closer inspection the spot looks just like the other troublesome places that were previously removed. It looks like another surgery is on the table, but he agreed to wait until the spot grows or March (when our schedule calms down), whichever is first.

Additionally, the doctor still tried to look around to find that large tumor that miraculously disappeared last July. I told him that Jesus took care of that one, and although he will classify it as miraculous, he still ponders the reasoning. In good time. Maybe another miracle would be good proof!

All in all, it looks like we are likely in the clear for a bit. Any new malignant areas may pop at anytime, but for now we know that some sort of surgery to remove the ear spot will be in the near future (March, March, March).

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A New Era

2011-08-13T17:00:00.001-07:00

Much has changed in the last few weeks! Our request for transfer enrollment at a neighboring school was accepted, and Nisha officially began full day kindergarten on Wednesday. This is the first time I have had a kid away for an entire school day (at a school) and I must say that it feels like an easy button. They feed her twice a day, keep her for 6.75 hours, and practice basic skills. She loves it- especially the cartons of chocolate milk and Trix yogurt (which I refuse to buy). I go into this with nothing to lose (except a school voucher which I hope to use for free private school next year). I am tentatively optimistic. Every situation is different, but I think that this arrangement helps us achieve our goals to get a little reprieve for mental health, easily obtain consistent therapy to improve the speech, and to focus on having positive interactions with one another.

Aside from school, we continue to notice developing maturity and growth. She started sleeping through the night, quit sleep walking/ranting, and quit wetting the bed. All this in the course of about two weeks. Additionally, her hearing was recently evaluated and the doctor said the results were beyond his wildest expectations. She only shows mild hearing impairment, which can be permanently corrected in second grade. No more deaf labels, no more sound equipment, no more need for hearing aids. Do you hear me singing "Hallelujah?"

Another noteworthy improvement is Nisha's interest in toys. She plays with them! Most of you are probably raising an eyebrow at this point, but my adoptive pals know that this is no small feat. Do you hear the singing, folks?

I am looking forward to an entire year of growth, healing, and maturity! Three cheers from Brooke. :)

First day of school- outfit #1 prior to breakfast

First day of school- clothing change after breakfast disaster

I did not select this backpack! At least she won't loose it :)

An Official Level 2 Cellist

2011-07-30T13:20:00.001-07:00

Asher graduated to a level 2 Suzuki cellist this summer. While he is a great player, he HATES to play in front of people. So, we play anywhere, anytime to get used to an audience. This is a solo concert at Butler University- "Long, Long Ago" T. H. Bayly Book 2.

Does She Look Older?

2011-07-13T15:50:00.001-07:00

The race was on. Eden (7) had one lose tooth and Nisha (almost 6) had two. You can see that she was determined to win the race. She finally pulled one of the dangling culprits this afternoon. I am thinking of accepting donations for orthodontia bills as the dentist just told me that all three kids have mouths that are too small for their teeth to grow properly (maybe I am kidding, maybe I am not). :) She fully expects a prize under her pillow tonight, so I need to round something up before the kids return from VBS. They went to a morning and evening version this week and the latter offered a free dinner every night. Pathetic? Yes, but I do need a break once in awhile. I also cut about 6 inches of hair off Nisha, which only adds to the shock of her growing up. This was her first haircut since the orphanage buzz cut shortly before I picked her up in India. I will do a before and after picture in the near future as the transformation is SHOCKING! Off to preform tooth fairy duties. . .

Would You Rather?

2011-07-02T07:42:00.000-07:00

Would you rather give birth all day every day or have your wisdom teeth taken out? The answer: give birth all day every day. So, I was told that I could get dentures or have my wisdom teeth taken out because the bottom teeth were through the gums, sideways, and destroying my other teeth. I thought that avoiding dentures would be the way to go. . . now I am rethinking. I left the top wisdom teeth in because they were straight and not causing any problems, but had the lowers cut/hacked/sawed out on Wednesday. The first day was hell. The second and third days were fine and I went without the pain medication most of the time. Today, the fourth day, is back to hellish. I look like a freak and feel like a truck ran over me. I am dying to eat about 12 garlic bread sticks- my standard fare- but can only gulp down slippery and slimy "stuff." Enough said.

In other news, where in the world did summer go? In order to accomplish something before craziness begins again, I made a bucket list of fun things to do with the kids. Here goes. . .

In order of greatest importance:

1) Eat from a food truck. It looks like this will be West Coast Tacos or the Scratch Truck, but I eagerly anticipate the new pizza truck making its debut in the near future

2) Go tubing- in a tube with a bottom so the snakes don't get me

3) Hit the Indiana Dunes- the closest thing to a beach that I will see for awhile

4) Go fishing- okay, this is really one for Aaron because I don't touch live fish

5)Go to Conner Prairie- I am thinking Symphony of the Prairie, but my kids really want to check out the historical interactive part. Maybe I will finally stare down all those horrid memories of the sausage lady when we visited during field trips as kids. Help me, God!

6)Go to an Indian's baseball game- as long as there is popcorn I can probably live through this one

7) Go to Mammoth cave- the old granny tour, not the crawling on the belly claustrophobic's nightmare version.

8) Go camping- in a tent, for at least one night (keeping it real here, this might be in my backyard)

That probably takes us up to the middle of August. Still no word on a school for Nisha, although, I do know that I am sending her to a public version this year so that she can claim her private school voucher next year. I love our governor for offering the biggest voucher program in the country- up to $8500 in tuition money that I can use at a private school. Her medical adventures pick back up in two weeks, so we enjoy the calm while we have it.

Have a great holiday! Chat soon.

M-I-C-K-E-Y-M-O-U-S-E!

2011-06-17T11:37:00.000-07:00

We survived 4 airplane rides, 4 Disney theme parks, 3 parades, countless character photographs, 14 roller coasters, 4 live shows, monorail rides, boat rides, a stunt show, an American Idol screening, 15 Mickey Mouse ice cream pops, and no less than 59 rides. Disney is exhausting for parents, but a must do at least once in your life for kids. Check. I will expect my mother of the year award.

The kids were all tall enough to ride most of the rides. Even Nisha rode everything that she was tall enough to ride. She cried and howled the first three times on Thunder Mountain, but eventually decided she liked it. Eden was driven by the thrill rides and Asher enjoyed the lizards and birds native to Florida- whatever floats their boat. Nisha had a knack for getting noticed and was invited to dance on stage with Chip and Dale and she was also asked to dance in the live production of the "Lion King" at Animal Kingdom. She most definitely has a future in the entertainment business. Aaron made an appearance in the "Birds of the Wild" show in the Animal Kingdom and had a scary bird land on his arm and take his money. All in all, it was a great trip to be remembered for many years to come. Aaron is advocating for a nature vacation next year. I would prefer to look at the nature from my resort window. We shall see. In the meantime, we finish laundry and recover from an exhausting trip!

Bippity Boppity Boo

2011-06-17T10:50:00.000-07:00

Perhaps the greatest highlight of the surprise trip for Nisha was her experience at the Bippity Boppity Boutique. Essentially, little girls are made up to look like princess receiving a hair style of their choice, make-up, manicures, and facial jewels from a "fairy godmother"- read underpaid college intern. Princess makeovers occur in the castle at the Magic Kingdom and at Downtown Disney. I was cheap and brought our own princess dress, which saved me an estimated $125. Advance reservations are required and are booked six months out. I was unaware of this, but scored a cancellation appointment. Unfortunately, they were so over booked that we had to wait for two hours before the make over began- think fiesty preschooler at bed time and a mother completely out of her element in a pink beauty parlor. We complained twice, which is an oddity for us, so the manager gave Nisha her own "Sleeping Booty" doll to cheer us up. I took some mental notes on the hair style so that I could recreated it again for the next several days. If you need a princess makeover and aren't in the Disney vicinity, I am your girl.

The boys were actually excited to watch the transformation. However, Nisha's behavior throughout the night inspired Asher to write a new book entitled "The Princess Who Needed Some Manners." I think we might have a best seller on our hands. All in all, we thought the experience was perfect for her and the pictures speak for themselves. :)

Congrats, Teacher of the Year!

2011-06-05T16:05:00.000-07:00

After just three years at his new school, Aaron was named "Teacher of the Year" at Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School. I remember when he was too humble to fill out the application to apply for a job at the school. He wouldn't do it, so I filled out the paperwork for him. Hopefully, this will encourage him to shoot high for future endeavors. . . I am thinking that Harvard sounds nice. . . especially when my kids are old enough to attend college. . . employee discounts????

Congratulations, Aaron! This makes all those uncomfortable costumes, ridiculous war protest songs, and humbling inter-mural basketball mishaps worth it.

Happy Birthday, Asher!

2011-06-05T14:23:00.000-07:00

When we thought that we were getting the adoption credit, we planned a morale boosting trip to Disney World, however, we didn't tell the kids. Refunds are still not being issued, but we deemed the adventure worthy of pursuit anyway. While a Mickey Mouse cake for Asher's 9th birthday seems a bit childish, we thought it fitting in this case. Unfortunately, the reactions weren't what we were hoping for. Needless to say, absolute shock and expressionless faces do not equate to a Youtube video clip winner. Once the news set it a bit, all three kids mustered excitement, although they still suspect this a giant hoax. So, we are off at 5:00 in the morning and we hope to have a super fun and exciting week. I'll continue to update as Nisha experiences the "Happiest place on Earth" for the first time. Oh, the drama. . .

Another Graduate

2011-05-26T09:18:00.000-07:00

Nisha officially graduated from her preschool yesterday, her home away from home for the past two years. Her teachers noted that they would have a lot less entertainment in their lives over the summer without Nisha's personality. I think that was a nice way of saying that they won't have as much drama.

Officially a kindergarten student now, we just have to find a place for her to attend school. Vouchers just passed in our state, which may make private school tuition manageable for us. However, trying to find a private school that doesn't teach Mandarin, Chinese, or Spanish in kindergarten is a real challenge. We shall see. Throughout the summer, she will continue to do homeschool work with the boys. She is starting to read and is making great progress in math and writing. Truth be told, her handwriting is better than her father's quick hand. Sorry, Aaron. If she continues to progress at this rate she should have a running start at her school next year.

Earrings for the Second Time

2011-05-23T13:20:00.001-07:00

You may remember that Nisha had her ears pierced a year ago. . . and her ear grew over them. Nasty. Her father was nice and agreed to take her for the second time. She is already picking out her hoops and asking for a nose ring- that is cultural, right?

Dance Marathon Take 3

2011-05-23T13:03:00.001-07:00

This marks Nisha's third year as a honored guest at Dance Marathon where Aaron's school raised over $17,000 for our hospital (read- payment for most of Nisha's medical bills). The school invites patients in to share about their experiences at the hospital to motivate the teenagers that have raised pledges for dancing 24 hours straight. They always spoil her with attention and gifts, so this is a real highlight on her social calendar. Being wise to the gifts and attention, the boys decided to party along with them as well this year. They served their duty by entertaining the teens with their rad dance moves and antics. They also picked up some interesting new dances. . .

The Stage Debut

2011-05-15T14:44:00.000-07:00

All three kids experienced their first stage debut over the last few weeks. Nisha preformed in a dance recital with some of her besties, which included a couple of ballet numbers. She decided to abandon the previously learned routine to go rogue dancing to the music in her own mind- she always marches to her own tune doesn't she? The final number ended with Nisha sprawled out on the floor in an elaborate pose. She always shoots for shock value and I really do think that girls of color have extra grooves to their numbers. Needless to say, I think she can be good at dance and so she begins her official dance training this summer. Watch out world, Nisha is on the rise.

The boys were presented with an opportunity to preform in a high school musical. Originally they were to play extras, but they talked their way into choreography, solos, and a few lines. The students were very gracious and kind to them and included them as if they were piers. They made it through three shows this weekend and walked away wanted to "Do it again!" Some of the students in the audience asked them for their autographs, which my kids took very seriously. I was quite nervous for them not knowing how they would react to a live audience and hoping that they wouldn't freeze. I shouldn't have worried because they were so theatrical that I wished they could have seen my "mother's eye" warning them to tone it down. Several bows later, they were complimented by a local community theater director. Never a dull moment!

Eden officially moved on to being a level 2 violin student to which he responded, "Only 8 more until I am a professional." Dream big, kiddo. I look back to our days of "Twinkle" and rejoice that we have moved on. Asher preforms him level 1 cello concert in a month and will follow suit. Nisha is screeching her way through her beginning songs and hopes to play "Twinkle" in the coming months.

'Shrooms

2011-04-25T16:34:00.000-07:00

The excitement began when Asher came in from a nature hike in the back yard. His sketch book showed pencil drawings of Maypoles next to an unknown variety of mushroom. To our delight, he had found a patch of Morels! Since then, the kids have been bringing in a large batch each day. At the latest market price of $45/ lb, I think that Asher may have found a way to fund his college education. It has become a family activity- a huge hide-and-seek adventure!

Admittedly, I gagged at the thought of consuming the ugly sponges. However, the kids have decided that the mushrooms are fantastic. Nisha shouts, "DELICIOUS" while shoving them eagerly into her little mouth. After experiencing the rush of finding a few giants myself, I decided to take a bite. While they aren't horrible, I do wonder why people would pay $45 for something that resembles a buttery noodle. It continues to rain and thunderstorm daily in the lovely state of Indiana, which likely means more mushrooms. Hooray for Morels!

Back with a Bang- Surviving the Audit

2011-04-23T15:33:00.000-07:00

I know. It has been two whole months of silence. Yes, I still have cute but mostly ornery kids that are still up to their same old tricks. However, an internet respite was much in order to work through issues, prioritize kids, and make decisions for the future. I will report on all that in due time.

However, front and center on my mind is the Adoption Credit. The change in law this year made the credit refundable and especially wonderful for families that would normally not benefit from the credit due to zero tax liabilities (read poor people). Like all of my delighted pals, I filed my taxes early (On February 25), sent in the requested paperwork, and expected a timely refund. The refund was earmarked to pay off debt and to fund a vacation- I think we have earned one. I tracked the refund online and noted that it was due April 9, 2011.

Unfortunately, I was just one of the 90-95% of adoption returns selected for audit. Last week I received a post-dated letter from the IRS saying that my return was under review and that I didn't need to do anything but wait for 45 days. Alrighty then. The following day I received notice 886-H-Adopt-1, which stated that I was being audited and needed to send in, " a written explanation of each expense, copies of cancelled checks, and receipts." The document also stated that , "other explanatory materials" would be sufficient. Having feared this problem when I filed, I began researching the credit and knew that my return would go one of three ways.

1) I wouldn't have to prove anything at all and I would be awarded the refund (In my dreams)

2) I would receive 886-H-Adopt1 requesting receipts

3) I would receive 886-H-Adopt0 requesting receipts and court documents

Like any adoptive parent, I stashed away most receipts that pertained to the adoption, however, many of these expenses go back to 2007. Several others were incurred in India and note to the IRS: Street vendors and most Indians at large do not give receipts. Regardless, my proof is due within 30 days. I have read about many families sending in receipts only to be asked later for court documents (that were previously submitted) or the entire batch of paperwork again. Just to be sure, I am sending in our court documents, a spreadsheet listing every expense, and corresponding receipts.I also made labels stating our Tax ID number and name to be adhered to every single page of my packet. In order to speed things up a bit, I plan to fax on Monday.

Protocol says that the IRS has 90 days to respond to my information and can choose to award the refund or suggest changes (Blah). One friend suggested that I include a photocopy of my backside in the stack of documents. To that I think I will hold off until I am asked to resubmit the same documents twice. In the meantime, I await my third letter from the IRS. If you know of anyone that actually received the promised refund, please let me know as I think it would be a great encouragement to many.

Note to all of my blogging friends- I will be stalking your blogs to catch up on your life happenings in the near future. Do not fear an estranged psychopath on your traffic reports- it's just me. :)

Sanity Busters

2011-02-20T16:48:00.001-08:00

Yeah, you read that right. I have no advice for avoiding insanity, but I can share two activities that will set you on your merry path. Activity number one: finger painting. In an effort to engage my kids in creative endeavors that foster fine motor skills, I whipped out the finger paints. Keep in mind that I am not green; I do have three kids. However, nothing could have prepared me for the experience. I placed them at my plywood counter top as to avoid the white carpet and my treasured retro table. All that I can say is that an inner animal came out in my children and finger paint was everywhere. The pictures do not do it justice. At one point the entire floor was covered in what looked like a Jackson Pollock original. Of course they stepped in it and then walked across my white carpet. In fact they pointed out the "Big Foot" tracks across the living room. Several boxes of Borax and a few meltdowns later, peace was restored. A whole bunch of ugly came out. Maybe I should work on that. Until a major character flaw gets worked out in me, I am reserving finger paints for days that I can send them outside and then dunk them in the pool for a good wash off.

Sanity busting activity #2- cleaning under the beds. I hate clutter. It sends me through the roof. It is often thrown out. I have trashed countless treasures such as old teeth, cool Band-aids, and rock collections (they failed to notice that some of the rocks were a bit stinky). So, the kids have begun hiding their loot as to avoid my mad rages. For an issue that shall remain nameless, we HAD to clean under the beds (that can be another story in itself). Among bags of useless items that were confiscated I found a couple of winners. The worse by far was the Scotch tape bug collection. Yep, about 25 bugs ruthlessly murdered by being suffocated between two long strips of tape. I will say that they did manage to capture a variety of specimens, but they did make for a very unexpected find. Certainly I will no longer make blind grabs for items under the beds. Sigh.

A whole bunch of ugly make its presence known. The secret is out: I am not perfect. :)

Surgery Update

2011-02-10T17:06:00.000-08:00

After a long day, we are headed to bed. The day was hectic as we dealt with several clueless residents. Really, they should have some sort of parent training before unleashed to practice on the mass public. The surgery was longer than expected and entailed more than originally thought. On her right side, she had a growth protruding into the middle of her ear drum. Again, she is medical marvel. That is being sent off to pathology and we will deal with that later. The re-constructive surgery and the donor ear parts were quite simple in comparison and look viable so far. She was quite peaceful in recovery, which was an expected blessing. A fantastic nurse also helped take care of Nisha and scraped me off the floor after a humiliating black out (it never ends). This was the first time that the doctor didn't have to remove her ear cuff to preform the surgery, so she looks quite normal without the customary incisions and head bandages. She will likely have pain for a few days, will need to avoid infection and germs, and will need about 6 weeks to heal on both sides. We were given the option to stay or leave the hospital and obviously high tailed it out of there. We return to the clinic on Monday for a round with the plastics team and an ear check. Thanks for praying, as I know that the prayers of the saints availeth much and were working on her behalf throughout the day! Blessings. . .

1st on the List

2011-02-09T17:51:00.000-08:00

It appears as though we are first on the surgical docket Thursday morning. . . 5:45 to be exact. I hope the surgeon went to bed at 6:00 this evening to ensure that he will be at his best so early in the morning. I am planning on going "real ugly" which means forgoing make-up, hair brushing, and other beautifying rituals to pick up an extra 15 minutes of sleep. The surgery is not in our preferred operating room (Boo), but we are still hoping for some our favorite nurses and staff members. Most people remember us. I'll update as we progress through the morning as the Ipad is our source of entertainment and sanity during the wait. Nisha is aware of the plan and doesn't mind the surgery- except for the horrid pajama selection. She still isn't feeling great, but has dodged the fever. She is such a trooper.

Night, night. . . the bed is calling.

Surviving the Storm of the Century ;)

2011-02-05T05:46:00.000-08:00

This is one of our rain chains that help water drain from the roof

As you can see the storm of the century, that was predicted to be catastrophic, just left behind a couple of inches of ice for us to enjoy. The city was shut down for a few days and school was canceled for the week, except at our house. Yes my kids complained, but I threatened to go pioneer on them (as a wise friend suggested) and bust out some quill pens and candles if the complaints continued. They reformed. I can deal with snow, but ice is scary. When letting the dog out one only has to hold the lease and let the dog pull them around the yard as if water skiing. It is actually quite fun.

Along with the ice came the flu. The boys are just now recovering from their 104.6 fevers and Nisha caught it last night. She has to be free of fever by Wednesday to continue with her surgery on Thursday. Thus we are filling her with all kinds of supplements including cow colostrum (don't ask) to boost her immune system. The homeopathic remedies have seen us through several surgery prep emergencies.

Her big entrance test for a prospective school was postponed due to the ice. That gives us another month to cram. Amazingly, she has been retaining school "stuff" at miraculous speeds. I am not sure why, but I am so thankful for a breakthrough. While her communication still lags, she will be ready to ace that test by March if everything continues in this direction. With the Asian diversity card, I hope we are a shoo in. Yes, I am also planning on a minority college scholarship. I started browsing the selection of apparel that the school uses for a mandatory uniform and found that Nisha deemed everything on list as "not cute." I am thinking that bedazzled uniforms are frowned upon, so I will have to look elsewhere to think of some way for Nisha to express her style. She loves crazy tights, but those aren't on the approved list. Jewelery and crazy hair embellishments may be in order. Watch out, dress code enforcer, here comes Nisha. I can hear my phone ringing already.

A Belated Two Year Celebration

2011-01-29T14:42:00.000-08:00

Admittedly, we accidentally let a two year anniversary pass by unnoticed in the midst of sickness. I was humbly reminded when a church friend sent an anniversary ice cream card, which Nisha ranked right up there with winning the lottery. Today we celebrated Nisha and her place in our family over the last two years at Dairy Queen. Today I sent off her final postplacement report, which concludes every last bit of adoption paperwork. It has been a very full two years :)

We did get the surgery call and are set for a cadaver transplant on February 10th. In the meantime, she is taking medication to clear out infections and prep her body for the surgery. The healing should be easier this go round so if we can just get through the procedure I think everything will be smooth sailing. Hopefully near normal hearing will be restored within six weeks.

On the school front, I have a plan A, B, C, and D. I am not too fond of B-D, but have all the applications on file just in case. After extensive research we have decided that Nisha's best option is a private classical school in the inner city. The school has really small class sizes and the student population is diverse culturally and economically. In fact they recruit elite families from the suburbs and needy families from the city. Since the Asian population at the school is lacking I am hoping to score diversity points. I am shameless. The curriculum is classical, which follows suit with what we are doing here at home with the the boys. The only kicker for this option is that she has to pass an entrance examination, which will be given this Friday. There are only limited openings and several applicants. Cunningly, Nisha often feigns ignorance to charm people into doing things for her. While I can't reason with this mentality I am thinking of stooping to bribery. It is pathetic, but in this case I am willing to cave. Pray that I have an obedient, sweet, friendly, polite, scholar on Friday. Decision letters are mailed out in March.

We are off to conclude the Nisha celebration with a little Nanny McPhee. Have a great evening!

Meet the Rock Star

2011-01-19T15:28:00.000-08:00

Meet the future rock star violinist (or so he says). Eden busts out Minuet #3 without the repeats, age 6 1/2 (because the half matters).

Love/Hate Relationship with the School and Comparing Kids with Traumatic Beginnings to those from Suburbia

2011-01-16T14:33:00.000-08:00

That probably isn't a great "hook title" that I would encourage my student to use, however, this blog isn't about attracting readers. Rather, it is the glorious and sometimes brutal recounting of our journey (read- outlet for semi-crazy mother). Let's start with the first topic at hand: My love/hate relationship with our public school. Let me begin by saying that the views expressed here are solely mine and are not intended to be seen as judgement for people that think differently than I do. Each kid, family, school, teacher, district, and state is completely different and should be evaluated on an individual basis. I support public schools, private schools, and homeschools and recognize that there is not a one size fits all educational package. While I choose to homeschool two of my kids, I know some people that SHOULD NOT HOMESCHOOL! You have seen them and know who they are. Just sayin.

Along comes Nisha. She is clearly happier in a school environment. She receives therapy at school. She loves it. We thought that we would give the ESL preschool a try and it has been perfect for her. Kindergarten is approaching and with it comes meetings with school planning teams about Nisha's services and placements. Budget cuts are rampant in education and many of our local school systems have cut the arts and physical education programs. I realize money is tight. However, at our recent meetings I have been stunned by the number of times that the school has blatantly stated that they would do the bare minimum required of them and nothing more. For example, when Nisha entered the system her speech was so delayed that the school offered multiple speech sessions per week citing that it would further her progress. At the time she was in the midst of millions of medical appointments and it wasn't feasible. I asked to reinstate that schedule, but was told that they would only do the minimum required of them. This was repeated to me several times. At one point, I stopped the meeting and asked them why in the world I would want my kid to be apart of system that only shoots to do the bare minimum required of them. I did not receive a response.

This apathy has led me to pursue a variety of other schooling options. We have applied at top ranking private schools in the city, charter schools, neighboring public schools, and other schools within our home district. Honestly, it would be easier for me to stick her on the bus and send her to our home school. I would get her ready in the morning and the school would do their thing all day and then put her on the bus to return home. How easy is that? Yet, I can't choose the easy way out. I expressed this at our latest school meeting, where my thoughts were actually affirmed by several of the teachers present. I just want what is best for all of my kids. I realize that my free and close option is interested in educating the masses, but doing the minimum isn't going to cut it for me. The verdict is still out.

On to the next topic: Comparing kids who have come from trauma to those in suburbia. Each year, Nisha is evaluated for special services through the administration of a variety of tests. She qualifies for the deaf and hard of hearing program, which provides high tech equipment for her classroom and speech services for a language delay. While in a way she is fully integrated into our suburban lifestyle, I find it really difficult to compare any of her test results to that of her peers. The school meetings start with an overview of test results, a bunch of facts stating that she is behind in her language skills, blah, blah, blah. Tell me something I don't know. At the end of this briefing, I asked the administrators how much progress she made with her language skills in the last year. As it turns out, she made a two year gain! After a little more probing, I found out that she is the highest functioning deaf and hard of hearing student the school has and she has made more gain in one year than any other student with a language delay. Of course very few of those students spent the first three plus years of life in an orphanage crib and very few (if any) of those kids experienced any trauma that was life threatening, and fewer yet experienced abandonment, twice. The school started sending student teachers to our meetings so that they could be exposed to a "very unique and educational case." Whether that speaks highly or poorly of me, I hope that all involved have realized that poverty, abuse, poor medical care, loneliness, and institutionalization adversely impacts a child's life and should be considered when evaluating progress and future plans.

I am getting off my soap box now. Someone is tapping on my shoulder asking me to read her a book (for the 40th time). Since she is the smartest, most intelligent little girl in the world, I am obliging.

Night, night!

Uncharted Territory

2011-01-08T16:44:00.000-08:00

The medical world introduced us to new and uncharted territory regarding our plan of action for Nisha's ears. At least we got some good news this time. The ear that was recently operated on went from registering as deaf to very near the low end of normal hearing. In our world that is HUGE! I knew there was improvement because our TV isn't as loud as the one in the nursing home anymore. Seriously, it can drive a person crazy. While the hearing is improved, that ear does have a huge infection that can't drain away. A tube can fix that and will be inserted in the near future. It was supposed to be in February, but pulsating ear parts keep falling out of her ear (yes, I almost puke every time). I am thinking a January tube is in order.

The bad news reveals that the left ear (which has been repaired a couple of times) is a mess. Here comes the eerie part. Nisha will be receiving cadaver ear parts. Yes, somebody that is alive and well today will be graciously passing on their ear to little Nisha. Someone (who shall remain nameless) asked me if the doctors would give her a Caucasian ear. Let me assure you that we are talking inner ear parts. I have always been a huge fan of organ donation because you can't take it all with you when you go. However, realizing that someone had to die to provide the gift is very upsetting. I suppose that this is yet another cause for me to champion. When my brother had liver cancer, transplants were never an option and I never had cause to think that organ donation would help anyone that I know. I am thankful for options. :)

I was hoping to combine the surgeries and we need time for the cadaveric parts. However, I foresee two rounds of surgery unless the infection is miraculously resolved. I have totally lost count, but I think Nisha is ready to collect her 12th dog pillow provided by the OR. In the meantime, we say thankful prayers for the person that checked the little organ donation box on their driver's license.

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

2011-01-03T15:02:00.000-08:00

Did you miss us?

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, or so they say. It has been an entire month filled with outings, field trips, sledding, snowboarding, a couple rounds of sickness, and a whole bunch of relaxing. No blogging or internet stalking was in order. Now on the tail end of the vacay, I am ready to return to our established routine so that something gets accomplished around here. School began again today and the medical entanglement begins tomorrow. It is sure to be a fun year!

Miracle - Matisyahu Hanukkah Song

2010-12-01T15:33:00.000-08:00

Happy Chanukah!

2010-12-01T15:14:00.000-08:00

Happy Chanukah! December 1, 2010 marks the first day of the "Festival of Lights." Why do we celebrate? For several reasons. First, it is a celebration of miracles- from divine assistance provided to Judas Maccabee and the restoration of the temple to the miraculous oil that lasted eight days in the menorah. Most importantly, the "Festival of Lights" speaks symbolically of the true Light of the World- Jesus Christ.

This evening we lit our menorah, grooved to the new Matisyahu song, and played a competitive game of dreidel. More rousing activities are planned for the rest of the week.

We also celebrate the Advent season, which I will share about in a future post. Keeping focused on the reason for our season helps to drown out the commercialism and hustle normally associated with the month of December.

The last week has been a great time of relaxing and engaging in fun and meaningful activities with the kids. Next week brings another work assignment, but I hope to keep the good times rolling.

A Life Lesson

2010-11-30T08:43:00.000-08:00

Do you have a strong stomach this morning? If not, you may want to click over to the next blog. We have a big problem in our house. My kids don't wash their hands. The little ones, especially, are prone to running out of the bathroom before scrubbing. As any good mother would do, we mixed up some agar, whipped out the petri dishes, and took finger swipes of the kids. Afterwards, we washed our hands with soap and repeated. Additionally, on one dish we applied antibiotic cream to on top of half of the dirty fingerprints. We sat back and watched our little bacteria colonies grown and flourish. I believe the results speak for themselves. Lesson learned. I now have three hand washers.

2010-11-26T15:19:00.000-08:00

In order to entertain the troops, we have been participating in an uncharacteristic season of crafting. The word "craft" alone makes be think of tissue cozies and ladies wearing hideous Christmas sweaters. So far, we have abstained from the Mama's Family type crafting.

Today's projects included snowflake cutting and cards for the elderly. Sometimes it is difficult to find service opportunities for kids, but card making is something that they easily do. Today we started with cards for DOROT, an organization that sends hand made cards to elderly shut-ins on their birthday. We make them, they address and send them out. The organization is supported by Jewish patrons, so we may have to throw out our cards with the Christmas tree on them- ah well, live and learn. Essentially, the cards need to be white on the inside (to make reading easier) and can be of any design on the outside, although I would stay away from Christian symbols as they may offend. While we are obviously not Jewish, we do celebrate some of the Biblical feasts and want to encourage the kids to reach out to a variety of people of varying belief systems. The whole point is to teach my kiddos about serving others, especially in a commercially suffocating season.

If you want to make some cards feel free to visit the website here. Additionally, if you know of another organization that accepts cards, please let me know. Since Nisha needs to be home more than usual, I would like the kids to channel their extra energy into something productive and meaningful.

*EDIT*- I just came across a website that advocates for "Thinking of You" cards for sick children. Guess what tomorrow's project is going to be? I think this is perfect because no matter how difficult the circumstances in one's own life, there are always those that have it much worse- a good lesson for my patient and her siblings. To send cards to sick kids go here.

Enjoy the long weekend!

THANKSgiving

2010-11-25T13:05:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving! Growing up this was my least favorite holiday as I was sick EVERY single year. However, my kids requested a "real Thanksgiving" this year, so I figured that their request for a tablecloth and turkey was well-founded. Complete with thankful turkey hats, we had a lovely feast. Someone suggested that I work on the presentation, but I will not be fooled into using serving platters that require double dish duty! The kids helped prepare the food and assisted in the clean up. Thanks to my mom, the my cooking was kept at the bare minimum. Now onto a family service project, which I will post tomorrow and Christmas movies with popcorn this evening. We are so thankful for our family, friends, and abundant blessings. Happy THANKSgiving!

Update

2010-11-20T05:17:00.000-08:00

It was much easier to give the update on Facebook last night, so the blog was neglected. For some reason, the hospital signal always gives Facebook a priority over any of my search engines- let me tell you, I am fully caught up on the world's happenings now. Nisha is still experiencing nausea and vomiting. I will now believe her when she says that her belly hurts. :( She is an great pain despite an assortment of pain medication. Of all of her surgeries, I would say this one seems to include the most pain. She refuses everything and is generally not speaking (the house is quieter than it has been in 21 months). The doctor's orders include a demand to stay in the house for week and to return in 10 days to remove the packing. Until then we hope for some pain relief.

I am happy to report that we beat the system regarding nourishment options, which always leave me infuriated. We pulled up the menu of Creation Cafe, placed a to go order, and rode the people mover across town to pick it up. Goodbye, hospital cafeteria food; Hello, delicious, steak salad with maple ginger vinagerette. Where there is a will, there is a way. :)

The Plan

2010-11-18T13:56:00.000-08:00

The alarm clock is set. The kids are packed. The daughter is prepped. We have to be at the hospital at 7:00 and surgery is expected to be several hours. I hope to know something after lunch. Thankfully, we received our favorite OR, which includes a private recovery room and individualized nursing staff. The nurses and docs all know us and that makes everything so much nicer. The boys are "working" at their grandparent's toy store, which they think is AWESOME. I figure that paper and a pen will keep them busy on their Christmas list for quite awhile :)

I'll keep you posted. Thanks for your continued support and prayer covering!

Good, Bad, and Ugly

2010-11-16T10:53:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was quite busy with a trip to the clinic and a Case Conference at Nisha's school. One was quite nice and other sadly disappointing. I will start by getting the ugly out of way. Upon examination, another tumor has been found on the other side of Nisha's hip/back/leg. Admittedly, I haven't even checked her skin for changes. There is part of me that doesn't want to look for fear of finding something and another part of me that is just lazy and hurries through shower time. Showers have been dramatically cut because the water dries out her nevus skin and is the undoing of her hair. Needless to say, our remission time of 3.5 months has now concluded. If the growth gets crazy, we will surgically remove it in the near future. Otherwise, it will be removed after the holidays. My frustration with the new spot is that it lies at a point of skin tension, meaning that movement after the surgery will be heavily restricted again. Maybe we will get another miracle.

On to the good news. . . the Case Conference was surprisingly positive. Nisha was given a kindergarten screening test and scored in the average level, which was a huge jump from only being able to answer three questions on the same test last year. I have never worried about her cognitive skills, but still it is nice to know that she is on track academically with her public school peers. The biggest shock was the report on her social skills. Apparently, she is a leader in the class making friends with most everyone and helping struggling students. Go figure. At church and in our homeschool class setting she still avoids other kids, acts attention starved, and generally behaves erratically. So why does she act differently at school?

I have two theories. First, I wonder if race plays into her comfort level with other children. She is currently in a ENL classroom with 14 other African, Latino, and Asian children. She notices a difference and seems to feel more at ease around people of like appearances. Ironically, outside of school she does play quite nicely with two adopted girls from Ethiopia. I have to think that race is a playing a part here. The second theory relates to her resentment of me has her main authority figure. Nisha and I are like oil and water. She always feels like she is getting the short end of the stick despite any efforts I make to give her added positive attention. Generally, if I am around she is going to challenge my authority. She does similarly with her dad, although he is much more lenient thus not provoking as many confrontations. I think she likes the school environment because it is similar to orphanage life. Next year she is school bound to give both of us a respite from one another. Hopefully, it will improve the quality of our time together.

So there you have it: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Now back to work :)

Certificate of Citizenship- Fee Hike

2010-11-15T16:30:00.000-08:00

This is a notify all of my adoption buddies that the fee for a Certificate of Citizenship is going up to $600 on November 23, 2010. I have been putting this off for ever- who really wants to shell out to the Department of Homeland Security? In fact, I think this is the biggest rip off ever engineered. A family adopts a foreign born child. The family formally adopts the child through the US court system. The child legally becomes a US citizen. Then, they have to pay several hundred dollars for one piece of paper that says their child is indeed a citizen. Such is my continued volatile relationship with the USCIS. As bad as it is, I don't want to pay $600, so I am scrambling to send off my documents tomorrow. I'll see you at the post office.

An thus, I formally conclude my battle with the international adoption paperwork. Now maybe I can claim that tax credit. . .

The Ride Continues

2010-11-13T11:37:00.001-08:00

While the blogosphere has taken a back seat, the wild ride of life continues. School is nearing an extended and much needed break (yes, I will be treating myself to dinner at Napolese for making it to the end). Nisha's medical saga comes front and center next week with plastics treatment for infected facial scarring and re-constructive otology surgery (again, grounds for treating myself to dinner). Some days I see glimmers of improvement in orphanage behaviors, some days we take two steps backward. Yesterday, Nisha wet (purposefully) on my memory foam mattress to spite me and the dog expelled orange puke on my white carpet in the matter of 10 minutes (let's just say that wasn't a great moment). The boys continue their music training and play in the Art's Garden tomorrow. One practices so much that I have to beg him to stop playing Minuet #2, which I now sing by fingering, even in my sleep. Their progress mixed with a really great moment of seeing Nisha and her friend (I was starting to think she was imaginary) holding hands and playing on the playground really makes the difficult days worthwhile.

I am currently working full time again, so you will undoubtedly be assaulted by excessive blog posts and e-mails, which keep my mind entertained while working. Sorry about that.

Off to eat some Bon Bons, order around my maid, and let my personal chef know what I want for dinner. . .

Festivities of a Different Sort

2010-11-01T11:24:00.001-07:00

This one may not appeal to my friends that don't share my Protestant faith, however, let us agree to disagree. In an effort to make the holidays more exciting we are trying to create fun, family celebrations. It really doesn't take much to excite the kids- although I was just informed that I am wearing an Indian costume on Thanksgiving (maybe I won't post that picture).

Welcome to our Reformation Day celebration! The evening began with a game of pin the 95 theses on the Castle Church door- blindfolded. Next, we had a competitive round of "A Mighty Fortress" castle building contest. I found an online MP3 version of the song and everyone had about 2 minutes and 48 seconds to come up with their best castle while being serenaded by the words of Martin Luther. Afterwards, we had a rousing game of Hide the Heretic, which was the equivalent of hide and seek. I will admit that I enjoyed the silence so much that I parked myself on the couch and took a little rest between hunting. The kids were quietly tucked away and didn't seem to notice the lull in activity :) The evening ended with a Diet of Worms pudding treat and a Trash the Indulgence relay race. Exciting stuff. Admittedly, I did learn a great amount about the Protestant Reformation and kids had a ball. Next year we may try costumes? One thing at a time. . .

Field Trip Encounter with the NFL

2010-10-26T15:38:00.001-07:00

True confession: I inwardly cringe when I see people wearing an athlete's jersey, I shudder a little bit when I see entire families in coordinating sporting wear, and I think it is child abuse to put a baby or toddler in similar dress. Nausea over-swept me when I saw NFL Snuggies in the drug store. Not only is the whole concept of the Snuggie lame, but it is so much worse with horseshoes plastered all over it. Did you know that you can buy one for your dog too? I digress.

My boys have decided that they mildly like our local football team, the Colts. They could be wrapped up in worse things, so I am remaining neutral in front of them (I will admit to some eye rolling behind the scenes). The team's quarterback, Peyton Manning, visited Aaron's school today to talk about philanthropy so we figured they may enjoy a field trip. After dropping Nisha off at her school we hit the Panera for a couple of hours of school work and then dropped the boys off to meet their new super star. Despite the fact that the tornado sirens were all in full force, they were able to see Peyton and then enjoyed a tour of the basement where the entire assembly waited out the storm. After picking them up Eden had this revelation, "Mom, Peyton isn't a little guy like on TV, he is a grown up!" Riveting.

Needless to say, two kids were super excited.

Round Nine Zillion

2010-10-20T15:05:00.000-07:00

We were back at the hospital this morning for the conference on the ears. Several hours later, we had a surgery date of November 19th, the day after our last day of school for the semester. I am thankful we will alleviate a Thanksgiving stay this year as last year we enjoyed hospital fare- McDonalds. You all know how I feel about that place.

My kids asked if we could have a real Thanksgiving dinner this year. After clarification, I found out that a real dinner means that we all eat at the dining room table with a cloth and table decorations. Apparently, I need to step up our holiday traditions :) At least it won't take much to out shine past celebrations.

Recovery on this round of surgery is 6 weeks and includes the following possible side effects: loss of taste, loss of facial feeling, loss of hearing, destruction of hearing bones, and crooked ears. One part of the surgery requires removing her ear cuff, which means it may stick out afterwards. I am thinking that a crooked ear is the least of the worries.

Hopefully, this round will help make a significant difference in her hearing, which can only benefit us all. ;)

Books, Books, and More Books

2010-10-18T14:22:00.000-07:00

We are fairly voracious readers around here, although I will say it has been a learned habit. While some kids are eager to devour books from the beginning, mine weren't all that enthusiastic. With the exposure to a variety of literature through books on CD and read alouds, we are all learning to enjoy the written word (not books because not all books are of a quality worth reading). I didn't really read books growing up, and I now regret that I missed out on years of exposure to an exciting world. Now, Aaron and I both read regularly but we are making efforts to push ourselves to read more frequently and to include more difficult reading materials. This week I picked two middle of the road books by Chaim Potok, which I could read quickly and enjoyably while being exposed to great writing. Additionally, I am jumping into a book on church history. Honestly, my knowledge of religious history is sketchy at best. With friends of varying denominations and beliefs I decided to read up a bit the history of the church. Admittedly, this is somewhat of a snoozer, but I hope to make it through to the end with some new revelations (the verdict is still out).

This week I am reading The Dragon and the Raven by G.A. Henty aloud to the kids. I have never read it, but it includes a dragon so how bad can it be?
Aaron chose to read Duncan's War by Douglas Bond aloud to the kids. Can you tell we are studying the Middle Ages?
Really, boys are pretty cool. When I found out that my first two kids were boys I was fairly dejected. However, I am realizing that boy toys and boy books are way more fun than Barbie and her counterparts. I'll be sure to include the thumbs up/ thumbs down ratings when we finish out our selections.

Stunned and Dismayed

2010-10-17T13:30:00.000-07:00

As most of you know my personal income comes from a job assessing student essays on a prominent college entrance examination (name withheld to prevent grounds for termination). As I read thousands upon thousands of student works, I continually find ideas that alarm me and make me very worried about the future of America. While these ideas provide me momentary humor, I fear that our educational system is in trouble.

For your reading pleasure. . .

Louis Vuitton is a famous French philosopher.

Richard Nixon recently wrote a book on Global Warming.

Mother Earth, who created all creatures, is angry about pollution and may sneak into your home at night to seek revenge.

Barack Obama and his wife, Laura, are championing efforts to improve our educational system.

Mark Twain was a transcendentalist, who lived out by Walnut Pond.

The main character in Hawthorne's book The Scarlett Letter had a skin disease that marked a red letter on his back. (Wow! I don't even think they read Cliff's Notes on that one)

Yes folks, these are real statements supplied by our college bound elite. :)

The Answer is "NO!"

2010-10-11T16:50:00.000-07:00

Instead of talking tomorrow, I am going to record myself saying, "NO" about 87 times on my personal tape recorder. When I am presented with ridiculous questions, such as those that were thrown out at me today, I can simply push the play button. Case in point. . .

When my oldest asks if he can have a pet zonkey. . . "No"

When my middle child tries to sneak an entire package of cookies under his pillow. . ."No"

When my youngest yanks all the shirts off of a rounder at Walmart. . . "No"

When one of my boys asks if I would like to smell the fart that he trapped in the Tupperware. . . "No"

When a door to door salesman asks if I would like to buy meat from his portable freezer in the back of his pick up truck. . . A resounding "NO!"

Enough said.

Keeping the Little Hands Busy- Part 2

2010-10-09T11:04:00.000-07:00

Placing the appropriate number of paper clips on the number cards

Using the best invention ever- dry erase markers to write the numbers (over and over and over)

Power magnets on my magnetic cookie sheet- maybe I should buy her a new one?

Writing practice with a dry erase marker and a page protector- think easy button!

The quest for educational entertainment continues as Nisha blasts through last week's activities! This weekend we changed up the routine by busting into our new Power magnets, which I think will be the source of multiple engaging activities. . . I just have to think of some. In the mean time, she is having a ball making pictures and letters on her cookie sheet. Seriously, the cookie sheet that she is using still has some remains of the chocolate chip cookies I baked a month ago. Note to self: Pick up a new cookies sheet!

Next came number cards which were laminated so that Nisha can practice writing her numbers over and over without me having to create new practice sheets. She really enjoys the erasing which is AKA= No clean up for me. Just to make sure she understands that the digits do in fact represent a value, she places the appropriate number of paper clips to each cards. This is challenging, but a great fine motor activity. I had a special needs student year ago who lived for placing the paper clips on my number cards. In fact, he often placed paper clips across the tops of all of his papers, and across his shoe laces, and often adhered them to the hems of his shirts . I am not sure we have that level of enthusiasm, but the clips are achieving their purpose. We could probably use my pom magnets or the Power magnets to make the same visual and we may do that next week.

Last but not least, I decided it was time for name writing. Nisha frequently writes her name completely backwards or reverses her letters. Not to worry, this is quite common in children and is rarely a sign of dyslexia in children this young. To help create a visual memory or her name, I just printed off a practice sheet and placed it inside a page protector so that I don't have to continually make new sheets. Creating a visual memory of letters is key to future spelling and writing skills so more effort may need to be spent developing that in Nisha.

I have a new obsession with velcro and have been busy making little charts and puzzles for my older kiddos, which I will share later. In the meantime, we are making a sandstone patio out back and duty calls. I offered to be the official inspector, but that didn't fly. Bummer. See ya real soon :)

Keeping the Little Hands Busy

2010-10-06T14:52:00.000-07:00

Using magnetic poms to form letters

Matching upper case and lower case letters

Stamping the letters

Dot paint (from the educational store)

In an effort to keep the little and constantly moving hands busy, I have had to come up with something for Miss Nisha to do with herself while the boys are working on school work. Yes, I have buckets for each day with a variety of special play things, but I needed to bump it up a notch. The problem is that I have very little time and energy to come up with a bunch of ideas. Instead, I ordered the Letter of the Week CD from Erica as a time saver and then altered some of her ideas. Nisha knows most of her alphabet, but this keeps her busy and happily engaged.

The next stop was Walmart where I picked up some supplies to make more manipulatives. Let me tell you a bag of poms, some plastic cups, and a pair of tweezers are not only worth all of the $2.77, but they also help with fine motor skills. I bought some round magnets with adhesive already on them and mounted poms on top. She can use these over and over to create pictures and form letters. They looked so fun, the boys begged to use them too. My white boards aren't magnetic so I just used a cookie sheet as a tray for her work. My printer is getting a work out, but the ink is well worth the entertainment. So far, the printables and the homemade crafting ideas are a hit.

The Plan

2010-10-02T16:46:00.000-07:00

So after a week of pouting about the ear dilemma, we decided to strap on our boots and start wading through possible causes of disease. The hospital thought that all signs pointed to a rare case of Tuberculosis. Lest you friends get your panties in a wad about the possibility of Nisha infecting your little one, let me put your fears to rest by saying that children aren't don't spread TB through their ears. However, I didn't want to tell anyone because most people shake in their boots a little when they hear that someone may have it. She has every symptom of Tuberculosis, but the test on Friday came back negative. At first I was relieved, but then we have to go back to the drawing board to find out how ears can be destroyed in a matter of weeks. The doctors are convening to discuss the matter and will conference with us in two weeks.

In the meantime, Nisha's case conference is approaching so we need a game plan for the rest of this school year and have an idea of what we want her kindergarten year to look like. Seeing as how she has yet to establish friendships with other kids, homeschooling is out for next year.She could seriously benefit from a sister about 4-5 years old, but we just aren't up for another adoption while in the midst of her current situation. I am thinking that full day kindergarten would be worth a shot, however, that costs $3000 in our district. I don't mean to be a snob, but I am not paying $3000 for a public education. The good news is that legislation was just passed to allow students to request enrollment at neighboring districts without tuition charges. We have two school systems within a couple of miles from our house of which both offer full day kindergarten. Another added bonus is that all her therapies can be conducted during her school day and the school system will pay for sound equipment that temporarily assists her ability to hear through sound amplification.

Our tentative plan for kindergarten is to send her to school to work on establishing friendships AKA- forcing her to interact with kids everyday, and then working with her at home on her academics. If there is a glitch in the plan, I can always yank her out or make changes. However, so far I have been greatly pleased with the services provided by the public schools. I am blessed to have so many options here in America- public school, charter school, virtual school, Christian school, private school, and homeschool. I haven't had to bully or be obnoxious to get what I think Nisha needs from the public schools- although I would if necessary :) I am so glad that I taught in the pubic system and have experience wading through parent rights and legislation.

The long term goal for Nisha would be to improve her relational skills (that seem to be lacking) and then bring her home with my other kids. Another year to gain maturity and age appropriate relational skills could make all the difference. However, all decisions will be prayerfully made considering Nisha's unique needs. Unfortunately, she is regularly compared to normal, American kids. We forget that she has survived abandonment, disease, loss, Cancer, and attempts on her life. Great strides have been made. Everyday I realize that I need a greater amount of grace, patience, and love to parent Nisha, which brings new meaning to "Give me this day, my daily bread. . ."

Honoring a Justice Hero- #1

2010-09-24T13:33:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to take this opportunity to honor a few of my friends that have stepped up to organize a variety of mercy outreaches to orphans, homeless adults and children, the sick, the lame, and truly "the least of these." These are every day moms ministering to others.

Today's feature is Tiffani, who recently adopted two young and very handsome boys from Ethiopia. The project: Feminine hygeine products for women and young ladies that live in Korah, a forbidden lepper colony/trash dump in Ethiopia. The dump is home to over 100,000 people that dig in the refuse looking for food or sellable wares. Not only are basic necessities scarce, but feminine hygiene products are non-existent. Sadly, ladies are not permitted to work and young ladies are not allowed to attend school while on normal monthly courses. The most desperate resort to using garbage in place of sterile products resulting in disease and death.

So, women from various churches and community groups gathered to make washable feminine hygiene products. Armed with my sewing machine that I have used all of about 3 times and my vast knowledge of sewing boxer shorts and pajama pants (Part of my duties as a special education teacher was to help my students in Home Economics classes) I headed off to join in the fun. Would you believe that clearing jammed sewing machines and rethreading needles for my 8th graders actually paid off? I am sure that I had to fix my own machine no less than 65 times during the course of the evening. Despite ability level (or lack there of), our group was able to create nearly 100 products. I really appreciate my friend, Tiffani, for recognizing a need and then doing something about it. Hooray for the justice heroes that step up to the call to Isaiah 1:17. If you know of other service opportunities or have other worthy causes, please let me know- I am in :)

Surgery Update

2010-09-21T12:29:00.001-07:00

Unfortunately, today's surgery was unsuccessful. The doctors were not able to do much of anything because of several tears that appeared in both ears. Even the ear that was surgically repaired weeks ago is plagued with perforations. Doctors now suspect a fairly serious condition (which I will keep quiet at this time) that may be causing the problems. Needless to say we were beyond disappointed because we really thought this was one of the last of our surgeries. Nine surgeries in 10 months (7 in the last 4 months) is grueling and it just gets old- mainly for Nisha- yet everyone in the family is affected. We are going to take a couple days to process the news and then make decisions about how to proceed forward. Sigh. I really think we need another miracle. Thanks for praying :)

Round 9

2010-09-20T09:06:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow we hit the trail for round 9 of surgery. On the agenda is ear repairs. A recent ear inspection revealed infection behind both of the ear drums and a change in the tympanic membrane location, which can cause permanent ear damage and hearing loss. If we judge the severity on past experiences with ear surgery, I would anticipate a rather quick recovery of a couple days (plus a few weeks on restriction). The hope is to clear the yuckies and improve hearing ability. Aaron and I aren't too enthusiastic, but surprisingly Nisha is excited about the big day. She has learned to barter by saying "I go and you please get Happy Meal?" The kid has only eaten at McDonald's twice in her life- once in India and the second time after her last surgery. While I want to puke thinking about that greasy bomb of a meal sliding down her esophagus, I figure it is the least we can do for her endurance in the never ending medical circus. I'll keep you updated.

The Case of the Bum Peanut Butter

2010-09-14T14:56:00.001-07:00

This morning I was hot on the trail of an interesting scenario. There were clues of mischief everywhere. At last the mystery is solved.

Each morning I get up early and take Nisha to school while the boys get up, feed themselves, dress, and prepare for the day. My mom is always here (she is sleeping, but none-the-less an adult is present). This morning I noticed several slices of bread in the sink uneaten and without mold. I later spotted what looked to be peanut butter smeared across the counter (or lack their of). Finally, the boys suggested that I throw out the new peanut butter because something was horribly wrong. A quick trip to the pantry revealed the boys made themselves tahini sandwiches this morning instead of peanut butter toast. I had intended to use the tahini for hummus production, but apparently it often disguises itself for peanut butter. Be on guard, you never know when the tahini may strike in your own pantry.

William the Conquerer and the Battle of Hastings

2010-09-14T06:52:00.000-07:00

In an effort to stay true to my goals for being a more "hands on" educator, I busted out some crafts to correlate with our week 2 work at Classical Conversations. The kids are studying William the Conquerer and the Battle of Hastings. I am pretty sure I never heard of the guy when I was in school, or maybe that was when I was snoozing through history class? Needless to say, I am enjoying it much more this go-round.

For those crafting at home, we made Viking ships to surprise King Harold's troops. You can make your own boat with this link. Then we drew out a battle map for Stamford Bridge and Semlac Hill so that our plastic army men could reenact the the events leading up the crowning of William as the first Norman king of England. In retrospect, the Playmobil figurines would have been a better fit, but I will know for next time. This may also give me an excuse to order more soldiers! I am thinking of throwing some contact paper over our battle map for future dramatizations- why waste time and effort, right? What retelling could be complete without costumes you ask? So we practiced our cutting skills and made Norman armor hats. Today, we are going to finish up with a seek and find hunt through the Bayeux Tapestry and conclude with the final installment in the BBC documentary covering the event on Youtube (Hooray for free movies on Youtube).

All in all, the kids gained more out the experience crafting and playing and I didn't die of the dreaded disease called crafting. I guess I need to get started on planning next week's activities. . .

Importance of Outdoor Play and Boycotting Nature

2010-09-10T13:28:00.000-07:00

In an effort to model life long learning for my kids I am challenging myself to attend classes, read books, and to participate in activities that I normally wouldn't choose for fun. No matter what job one has- be it student, mom, teacher, laundry lady, cook, garbage hauler- I think that individuals should always strive to do their personal best and challenge themselves to further productiveness. At times in my life I improved myself by just strapping on a bra and changing out of my pajamas in the morning (those were the baby years and post adoption months). During more refined times, such as these, I am constantly evaluating how I can improve our daily routine balancing academics and good plain fun.

A friend recommended the book Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv. I will admit that this was not an easy read. It started out as effective as a Tylenol PM or a glass of wine. However, by the end I found myself agreeing whole heartedly with the ideas presented by the author. In short, the author compares generational recreational activities and notes that with the decline of outdoor play the statistics for attention deficit and hyperactivity have dramatically sky rocketed. Trying to put the book's suggestions to practice we are working on clearing trails in the woods to encourage fort building and the like. After all, it is much more fun to play in the woods when you aren't covered in poison ivy and burs! Additionally, I am implementing a mandatory nature recess every day. My youngest was clearly rebelling to the new plan by screaming, "This no awesome. I am soaking wet!" as we took a leisurely hike this afternoon. She even attempted to fling herself on to the ground several times. I maintained my leisurely pace and she eventually caught up ;)

Even if you can only skim the book, I think that you will find it enlightening. As always, if you have any book suggestions I am all ears.

I am in love with my laminator. . .

2010-09-05T10:50:00.000-07:00

Now that school is in full gear here at home and at the new classical school we started this year, I thought that I would share of our ideas and tools. It doesn't matter if your kids attend a public school, private school, or homeschool -we all work towards a common goal of training up our children. This year I want to be more purposeful about creating hands on activities for my younger two children. Kids are natural sponges that are able to retain vast amounts of memory work- usually far more than we give them. Beginning at age 3, my kids worked through all of their skip counting through the 15's. Now that they are getting older, multiplication and simple algebraic equations are very simple because they have the information already memorized. In our Classical Conversations school we ask all of our kids to memorize skip counting through the 15's, square roots, and cube roots.

Yesterday, I sat down and ran a few sheets of construction through my Walmart laminator (well worth the $25) and came up with the ice cream cone skip counting manipulatives. Each counting family is on a different color "scoop" for easy identification and every kid gets their own cone. We raced to see who could build their cone first to make the activity more fun. All in all, 30 minutes and a couple of bucks yielded a fun way to practice and visualize our math memory work for the week. I threw all the pieces in a freezer bag for easy storage and threw it in my activity box. My goal is to make something like this a couple of times a week to keep learning fun and lively around here. Sometimes my intentions are better than my follow through, but you can hold me accountable.

The Big 5!

2010-09-04T15:20:00.001-07:00

(Don't mind the missing countertops ;)

Okay, maybe too many Barbies

While last year's birthday came without awareness, the "Big 5" came with many expectations of cake, presents, and Chuck E. Cheese. With a preventative dose of pain killers we headed off to fulfill all of those hopes. At several points throughout the day she said, "No birthdays in India! I like birthdays." I believe the day was a success, although I am not sure she will understand that tomorrow is not her birthday. Isn't it amazing how much she has changed and grown over the last year and half? Wow! I can hardly wait to see what God does in her life in the coming year. Happy Birthday, Nisha!

The Birthday Motherload

2010-08-31T17:30:00.000-07:00

This has to be in the top ten of the best bargain hunts ever. For real. Nisha's 5th birthday is on Saturday. We had no idea what to do get her, but scoured Craigslist daily to find something that may hold her attention. Most little girls like Barbies, so you can imagine my excitement when I found a lot of 50 African American Barbies plus 15 boxes of accessories new and in their original boxes for less than the price of 3 Barbies at the store (they are stacked on top of each other in the picture). The previous owner was a Barbie collector and needed to make room for a new collection. I think she was surprised when a white lady in a minivan pulled up to seal the deal, but was glad that her collection was going to be enjoyed by a little girl. I am pretty sure I have all of the major holidays covered for a good year or so. Great steals are the best! I will post pictures of her reaction, which I expect to be Oscar worthy.

Knock Knock. . .

2010-08-17T10:46:00.000-07:00

Knock Knock. . .

Who is there?

August.

August what?

August 23rd.

WHAT????? Where did the summer go? The older I get the quicker time seems to roll by. August means the start of another school year and crazy schedules for all 5 of us. Aaron has started back to Brebeuf teaching AP History, AP Economics, and a real uplifting class on genocide. I am pretty sure I would need some Prozac after the first week of the latter.

Nisha started back to her preschool for English as a New Language program, which meets every morning at the crack (literally) of dawn. Her teacher called yesterday and began speaking on our answering machine. Nisha, recognizing her voice, helped herself to the phone and started screaming, "Oh my god! Oh my god. I do. I come." (We certainly don't say that around here, but her favorite Auntie Agnes often used the phrase in India-thanks a lot, Agnes.) In the near future, we are going to have to make a decision about her kindergarten. Each kid is different and it is hard to make the best choice for her. One day at a time. We have also decided to begin her formal dance training at the Jordan Academy of Dance. I attended after high school and quickly learned that they train professional dancers- for which I was certainly not. I will never forget the looks of my classmates as I sported my granny panties hanging out of my leotard. If you didn't already know, Nisha came to us dancing and singing. The singing I am not sure about (maybe she can't hear the pitches accurately), but she is extremely limber and creative with her dance. I am sure there will be lots of stories there. Watch out dancers, Nisha will be bedazzling her tutu.

The boys and I started back for an exciting year of third and first grade. After 5 years of homeschooling, I decided to try some new materials with Eden. I was boring myself. So far so good. We still have 1 week of schooling on our own before our new classical school begins (People always ask me multitudes of questions about the classical school so I will share more on that later). Anywho, as the school kids go back to the school schedule, we now enjoy getting around town more often. The museums, zoos, and park guides know us by name. Perhaps one of the greatest misconceptions about homeschooling is that people think we stay home and sew our own clothes and use our horse to plow our own fields all day. Not so. We usually work until 1:00 and then head out for lessons, field trips, and outings. The boys are both attend the Indianapolis Academy of Music where they meet twice a week for music theory, aural training, and private lessons with their instrument. Since my stick figure drawing and lame clay pots weren't that exciting, I also decided it was time for art class- which will take place at a local, private high school. I look for help when I am unqualified :)

I am extremely happy with some new curriculum choices. First off, we started a formal Latin program. The kids took a class last year, but I decided to give Prima Latina a shot in addition to the Latin memory work. Often people ask why we study Latin. Quite simply, 70% of the English vocabulary has Latin roots. All of the Romance languages are also rooted in Latin- which makes Spanish much more educational when one can move past "Donde esta bano?" Additionally, any career in science, languages, or law would also host an extensive repertoire of Latin vocabulary. Needless to say, I feel strongly about the benefits. Hopefully next year Asher can start to translate simple works. Again, we shall see.

Another new selection for teaching the little ones how to read is the Phonics Museum by Veritas Press. Love it! All of the beginning readers portray real events or people in history. Today Eden read Ella Sings Jazz, which is an artistic version of Ella Fitzgerald's biography. The phonics rules are put to music and there are tons of opportunities to for visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and casual learners. I will probably start Nisha in the kindergarten book starting the second semester. I really can't say enough good things about this program. Certainly not necessary to learn to read, but fun for kids that like to have the bells and whistles.

Additionally, we decided to switch to Shurley Grammar. Asher will take grammar classes at Classical Conversations, but I think that Shurley will be a good complement. Already in two weeks Eden can identify a few parts of speech within a short sentence. All of the "grammar" is put to jingles and chants which prompt kids to find the parts of speech in a question/answer style. I have high hopes that all of our grammar will be improved by the end of the year.

All in all, we are off to a running start. I am sure many stories and escapades will follow. Well off to reenact a history lesson . . . more soon.

Hello, My Name is Sucker.

2010-08-16T09:08:00.000-07:00

The kids have been asking for a dog for nearly three years. I have politely declined citing a host of reasons. I told the kids that a dog needed a big yard to run and play in. We moved to a house on 4 acres. After that excuse went stale, I told the kids that we had to find the right dog which would be the following: one that doesn't bark, doesn't lick people, doesn't jump on people, is house trained, isn't too old as to kick the bucket too early, likes kids, is crate trained, and really needs a home. Armed with that list the kids started scouring Craigslist every day. They found several candidates that met the requirements but weren't cute. At last the day came (the same day we were supposed to be out for our eleventh anniversary) that the trophy dog appeared on the listings. Meet Maggie. She is two and an Australian Shepherd mix. She was used by an Amish family to mother a litter of puppies and was then abandoned at a shelter. The shelter kept her in an outdoor cage for a couple of weeks until a family rescued her. They already had 5 dogs and decided to list her on Craigslist.

The dog is seriously depressed. She doesn't really do anything except lay by us and go outside. Today she started to wag her tail when I paid her some attention. This is somewhat reminiscent of our initial days with Nisha. Nonetheless, Maggie is now apart of our family. If she doesn't die of a broken spirit I am pretty sure she will die from being loved to death. Hello, my name is SUCKER.

"Blessed be. . ."

2010-08-09T09:11:00.000-07:00

The family is in our final days of our official summer with Aaron returning to work on Wednesday. This summer has been bittersweet with plenty of taxing days at the hospital mixed with an abundance of exciting adventures with the kids. With the return of the formal school year, we are scrambling to get into our new routine. More on that soon.

Aaron kindly took Nisha to her visit with the plastic surgeon this morning. All of the stitches were removed from her face, leg, and back- she should get an extra jewel in her crown for enduring that one. On to the "good stuff" (two words I never let my kids use in their writing). The pathology results from the surgery are in and (drum roll, please) there is no cancer or sign of one malignant cell! For those just tuning in, less than a year ago a large, malignant tumor the size an adult hand was removed from Nisha's back. Not all of it could be removed at one time. On July 16, 2010 the surgeon opened her up to clear out the rest and found it to be completely gone. A similar tumor was growing on her left thigh and was believed to be of the same malignancy. However, upon it's removal it was found to be completely clear. Folks, I have medical documentation from multiple labs describing the malignancy in medical terms that I barely comprehend. Approximately 10 other medical staff including nurses and surgical assistants also saw the original tumor and can testify to it's appearance and disappearance. The doctor (a Yale and Harvard grad) is still shaking his head in disbelief.

While the doctor doesn't know what to make of the miracle, we fully give all credit to God and His healing hand in Nisha's life. The last year and half of life with Nisha has been pretty rocky with the severity of all of her medical needs on top of normal adoption adjustment issues. I don't know why God didn't heal her sooner. I don't know why we had to go through all of the medical treatments. I don't know why she still has sickness that needs healing. I don't know why others that I have loved have died of sickness. However, we had to come to a place where we decided to say, "God, Blessed be your name in the hard times, Nisha is in your hands." Now, on the flip side, we can truly say, "God, Blessed be your name in the good times too." I think it is only fitting to conclude with a declaration, "Blessed be the name of the Lord for this incredible miracle!"

If you need a miracle, keep believing.

A Cultural Experience and Frugal Steals

2010-08-04T14:34:00.000-07:00

On my quest to obtain high quality food on a shoe-string budget, I often find myself driving across the Earth or waiting in long lines for hours and hours to find awesome steals. Today's experience was a jackpot. This morning I packed up with couple of friends and headed out of town to attend an Amish produce auction. I am pretty sure my attire, which included a tank top and shorts, was frowned upon by most of the sellers, but I found the Amish to be incredibly nice and helpful. The men were bare footed and pulled up in their buggies. Small children freely drove miniature ponies and carts up and down the county road. The farmers were plowing their fields with a horse. I certainly entered a world very different from my own.

On to the steals. . . the spoils include 25 red peppers (sold at Walmart for $3 each; bought at auction $7 for all), 75 lbs of yellow and red tomatoes ($18), 6 pints of cherry tomatoes ($0.53 each), 60 large green peppers ($6 for all), fingerling potatoes ($2), fresh blackberries ($1.75), boxes and boxes of eggplant ($10), 6 watermelon ($10). All in all, I spent about $70 and went home with a few hundred dollars worth of produce. I even ran into two people I knew ;)

Now I am off to do something with all this food :)

The Doll Project

2010-08-02T12:31:00.000-07:00

Finished Doll

Rectangular doll shell before stuffing

Are you looking for a way to help others but are short on time, money, and energy? Look no further, the Doll Project is here! Blog reading and blog writing has been short on the priority list, but I recently came across a very worthy plea for help on Tisra's blog.

A really cool family, the Greenbergs, packed up their belongings and moved to South Africa for a year to serve as missionaries to minister to the lost, lonely, and forgotten- particularly children enslaved in child prostitution. Jen states, "According to an international BBC report, a female born in South Africa has a greater chance of being raped in her lifetime than learning how to read." The Greensburg family ministers by passing out small, hand-made dolls that spread the message of love by focusing on the child's worth in the Lord. Boys and girls alike are given the dolls and told that just like the dolls, they are knitted together in love by God. While focusing on the child's worth in Christ, awareness is bought to issues of pornography, sexual abuse, prostitution, and trafficking. Jen says, "Each child comes away knowing that they are special, God has a plan for their life, God can bring complete healing, Call for help, You can choose."

After reading that, I decided that I could surely teach myself to knit some dolls. The only knit I knew about was the kind that lice put in people's hair and I thought that purl was something to wear on a ring. However, I soon maneuvered through some of the basic stitches and made my doll shell. Two sticky hands found the doll and began to unravel, so it has yet to be assembled. However, all in all it took about 2 hours to make one doll. I plan on making several more!

You can help in two big ways. First, you can pick up some knitting needles and knit some dolls! There is an easy to follow pattern that is fairly discernible to a novice knitter. I can e-mail it. Second, if you a gifted knitter, you can help me improve my purling- it could use some serious improvement. Finally, you can spread the word! The more dolls we send, the more kids hear the Good News! Please join me in the Doing the Works of God!

The New Nisha

2010-07-28T12:20:00.000-07:00

I thought it might be a good idea to post a couple of pictures for friends that are local so they don't get too alarmed when they see Miss Nisha. Her face was still really bad yesterday, but looks remarkably better today. These pictures don't fully show her raised nose, but I wanted to give you some idea of the results. The incision (which still has stitches) will eventually only be a small crease- this is the first time in Nisha's life that she hasn't had nevi spots on her face! The nose will lower gradually over time and if not, we have a "Plan B." While it has been an ordeal, I am glad we are getting over this hurdle at an age when she might forget it ever happened.

Somersaults and Infection

2010-07-26T12:43:00.003-07:00

I was planning on writing a post about how great things were going (in perspective to what could have been). Yesterday, she was completely off the pain medicine and was turning somersaults. However, things changed this morning at the return visit to the hospital for a wound check. The good news is that Nisha's back and leg are doing great- despite the acrobatics . The bad news is that her face is severely infected. We went home with big gun antibiotics and have 6 hours to improve the situation before a visit to the ER. She acts fine, but apparently the spread of infection is a big concern. We are not all that worked up and are proceeding as normal. I'll keep you posted :)

Brief Update and a Neglected Comment Box

2010-07-21T07:22:00.000-07:00

Today feels like that horribly annoying movie Groundhog Day, however, it is a new day and for that I am thankful. I think Nisha slept all of 2.4 hours last night, but at least she slept. We successfully made it through dressing changes without puking or fainting, so all is well. Thank goodness for sedatives, which will be our best friends for the next couple of weeks. Are you tired of the lack of variety in sentence structure yet? I am boring myself. In short, Nisha has eaten a bit and is doing well under the circumstances. She will be a challenge to care for at home. We feel like we have been in a war zone- hungry and tired.

I try to make the most of every hospital visit by contributing some helpful suggestions to the comment box. Apparently, no one reads them or takes them seriously. What a shame. Here are the suggestions that I will contribute once again.

1)Please acquire some more fashionable hospital gowns. Nisha cannot tolerate the mundane clothing allotments. Maybe a Bedazzler would help. Note: Gowns without backs are not cute on anybody.

2) Burn the parent chair beds; people in third world countries would turn these down. Replace with feather beds.

Finally and most importantly,

3) Invest in two ply toilet paper. Maybe you think the behind doesn't notice, but it does. Everyone will appreciate the gesture.

Round 6

2010-07-20T13:13:00.001-07:00

After a full day of exciting activities such as people watching (OK, staring), getting updated on Facebook, and eating hospital cafeteria food we are all now situated in the Burn Unit. So, Nisha's face is now free of the large black nevus. Her nose and lip do look eerily like Joan Rivers, but you know, it will get better. Her ear was cleaned and deemed to be in good shape. The large tumor was removed from her thigh and has been sent off for a pathology report. Not surprisingly, the doctor said he had never seen anything like it before. The verdict is still out on that one.

The major concern today was the removal of a large, pigmented fat pad under Nisha's back that was tested and said to be malignant. It was partially removed last fall, but was too large to remove at one time. Unfortunately, the area of concern falls on a tension line that is pulled when she sits in a regular position, hence the 3 month bed rest last time. This afternoon, we received word that the surgeon was opening up her back to remove the yuckies. Less than an hour later, he came out and said that they opened up her entire back and behind and COULD NOT FIND THE MALIGNANT AREA! It was there- we have surgical reports and pathology results. Several doctors saw it; now, it is gone. The surgeon is still shaking his head in wonder. Not only did a malignant area disappear, but without the extensive removal our recovery time is reduced significantly. Instead of three months, we are looking at a week or two.

After several hours of surgery, she is under the care of her own nurse on the Burn Unit to get the pain under control. However, we find ourselves with very thankful hearts that the Lord has apparently done an awesome miracle. THANK YOU, Jesus!

(Sorry for the typos and spelling errors- I am typing while consoling a crying kiddo)

Worthy of the 400th Post!

2010-07-15T13:39:00.001-07:00

There is a beautiful term in insurance terminology that is called "Maximum Out of Pocket Expenses," which refers to the most amount of money one will have to pay for medical expenses in a calendar year. We expect to reach this amount every year with Nisha's medical bills. However, when billed for that amount from the hospital, they always decide to erase the debt. Once again, the bills from the last 3 sugeries have been rolling in and once again the hospital has erased our debt. This may not mean much to you, but we are ecstatic. That means after the insurance company pays their part, the hospital is giving us 2 free laser surgeries, a free ear reconstruction surgery, and a free, major, plastic surgery. If we can fit the second ear surgery in before the end of the year, it will be free too. We are toasting to God's provision and kindness to our family. Now off to that toast. . .

Ashraya Reunion

2010-07-11T15:22:00.000-07:00

These shining faces are the ones that were determined as "unadoptable" by Indian standards. . .

Yet they thrive :)

As you know, I had the wrong weekend for the India adoption reunion. After the surgery, we skipped town and made it to our 1 star hotel (who knew the Internet pictures of the facility were severely edited). I think Nisha scared the kids the first day with her head bandage. As you can see, she is certainly making a fashion statement with her turban. She was never really herself with the medication, but I think it was nice for her to see kids that she remembered from orphanage days. We hit a buffalo park, ate a scrumptious pizza lunch (that one is for you, Jeff), and spent some quality pool time together. All in all, it was a great opportunity to socialize with other families that look like ours :)

After parting ways , we hit a couple of museums, made a side trip to IKEA, and then traveled up to Dayton where we toured an Air Force museum in the morning before heading home. The kids were ecstatic because the hotel provided drinks with snacks/dinner and had an Amish family staying the night. They told me that it was really awesome staying in a hotel with a cowboy family. Sigh. Another cultural lesson is in order. Who is their teacher, anyway? It has been a good couple of days, but very exhausting under the circumstances. The bandages are all off and the stitches look good, so our next feat will be weaning her off the sedatives and getting back to a routine before round 4 next Tuesday.

Ear Update

2010-07-09T15:54:00.000-07:00

I was lucky to get this half grin as I plopped her on the couch after just now arriving home at 7:00. All in all, the surgery went well, although much longer than expected. The doctor will remove her packing when she goes in for her plastic surgery on the 20th. We went into this surgery blindly, not knowing what to expect. After going through it, I can see it was much more entailed than I originally thought. We found favor with the higher ups (that we met last go round) and I was granted permission to go back to the OR with Nisha while they administered her sedative. We all felt much better about this because she wasn't traumatized by a separation. Thank God for the little helps :)

On another front, we have been eagerly anticipating a reunion with Nisha's friends from India this July. I booked the hotel for next weekend. Low and behold, on my way out the door today I got a call from a friend asking why we weren't at the reunion. Did you guess? I got the wrong weekend. One of families drove 20 hours to visit with us, so you can imagine my devastation. The stress is starting to get to me. The surgeon graciously prescribed an intense pain medication so that Nisha can endure the 2 hour car ride over to Cincinnati should she feel up to it in the morning. She won't be able to do much, but I figured this is pretty much a once in a lifetime chance for her to see her friends all at one time. Even if she stays in bed all day, I hate to deny her the opportunity. So, as long as the night isn't too traumatic, we will leave first thing for Cincinnati. The surgeon gave us his pager number,- hopefully all be well. If she isn't well enough in the morning, the boys and I will head over.

Thanks so much for your continued support. We obviously aren't out of the woods yet, but are on our way to a healthier future. God is good.

Stupid comments we heard today:

1) Doctor in charge of anesthesia: "Do you, Nisha's mom, have any trouble with anesthesia because it does run in the family? What about you, Dad?" Good one. Usually people point out our difference in race. We finally met someone that didn't notice.

2) Mom of another patient: "Are those raspberries all over her face and arms?" Good one. I thought special needs parents had an unspoken code that you shouldn't point out differences in someone else's kid. Sigh.

3) Father of patient: "She looks like an Indian with that turban on her head." Wow. No commentary needed.

Never a dull moment.

Change of Plans

2010-07-09T05:15:00.000-07:00

Today's exciting plans of dressing up like cows to get free food at Chick-fil-a have been curtailed. As you might remember, our entire family makes cow costumes out of paper plates and the like every year for customer appreciation day. Last year, our attempts were photographed and displayed in the store (my kids will die of embarrassment one day). A friend, Norma Jean, even sent us a cow mask to add to our costume collection. However, yesterday the hospital called and asked us to come in this morning for an ear surgery.

We are to arrive at 10:00, and surgery is scheduled for 11:30. In short, they will cut off a piece of Nisha's ear cuff and form it into an ear drum. She won't be able to hear properly for a month or so, but should recover full hearing after complete healing. In three months, they will repeat the procedure with the other ear.

Again, we are thrilled the surgery takes place in the summer before the start of Aaron's school year. Practically, we know our insurance is going to take a huge hit (Thanks, Obama care) in September, so it is nice to get the bill in before our benefits change.

So, we are off to round 3 for the summer. Not sure what the recovery will entail or if she will have to stay the night. I do know that she needs to heal up quickly because round 4 is in just 11 days :( Thanks for praying! I will update as we proceed through the day.

How to Turn a Coach Potato into a Reader

2010-07-04T13:01:00.000-07:00

This post is somewhat off topic, but recently many people have been e-mailing me with reading questions. Luckily, I have had first hand experience with my magic skills turning my couch potato into an enthusiastic reader. My oldest has the ability to read most anything I put in front of him. However, when given the choice between reading and sitting in a chair daydreaming, he would choose the latter. Really, is one's imagination that interesting? I believe I went wrong when I chose reading materials that were within his reading ability but scoped beyond his maturity level. All kids are different and are motivated in unique ways, but I wanted to share some of the strategies that have worked in my house.

1) First off, we through out all of the books that look scary. Yep, anything over 100 pages bit the dust. Small print was also banned. Kids quickly form an opinion about a book based on it's appearance. Eventually, it is important to teach kids not to judge a book by it's cover. However, beginning readers (5-10) should build of confidence in their abilities first.

2) We checked out millions of picture books and asked him to read the books to his younger siblings. Guess what? You get two for the price of one! Not only is the older child practicing his fluency skills, but the younger ones are exposed to literature that you don't have to read ;) This also turned out to be great sibling bonding time!

3) Introduce your kiddos to the comics. The Sunday paper is fine, but one of our favorites is Calvin and Hobbs. Humor is hard to resist. Comics aren't scary because there doesn't appear to be many words and there are lots of pictures! Trick those little dears into reading.

4) Dig into your couch cushions for loose change and head to your nearest Half Price Books. Head straight to the back to the magazine section where you will find plenty of delightful magazines for $0.25. Let the kids select a few issues and head on home for more reading. If the entire magazine is too overwhelming, get out your clippers and cut out one article at a time. Remember, a slow and steady approach will have greater results.

5) Search in the weekly paper for kid related articles. In Indianapolis, every Tuesday brings a "Read the Zoo" feature which showcases animals at our local zoo. The articles are short and offer a chance to pack in some non-fiction reading.

6) Check out book on CD at the library. Anything by Jim Weiss is fantastic in my book. Set aside a regular listening time or crank them up in the car. Don't give up after one or two tries. Consistency brings results.

7)When making regular visits to the library, make your kids select books from the following categories: fiction, history, science, poetry, how-to-books, and fairy tales. Just because you like reading historical fiction, doesn't mean your kids will too. Expose the dears to a variety of genres!

8) When reading at home, always choose books below reading level for fluency, at reading level for guided practice, and above the reading level for challenge. As I have learned, reading for pleasure is more pleasurable when one can read whatever they want (I put my foot down at Captain Underpants, although I did read it once).

9) Let your kids practice reading aloud to anyone that will make a good audience. We read to the pet frog, the mature ladies at the nursing home, and anyone or anything else that will sit still for a read aloud. Believe it or not, the local libraries bring in guide dogs in training for the kids to practice with . The kids have a willing audience and the dogs learn obedience. Sometimes I feel really sorry for the dogs ;)

10) Host a book talk. No, not the corny and quiet reading circle. If the your kids are interested in the Hardy Boys, host a mystery party and ask the kids discuss their favorite story. If Fancy Nancy is the fav, throw on your pink boa and get out your best plastic tea set. In the end, positive peer pressure can work to motivate your kids to read more if they see their friends excited.

11) Do your homework. Several books like the Magic Tree House offer short chapter books with higher reading levels. The MTH series offers books with first through late third grade levels. If you can get your child excited about the series, they aren't likely to notice a big difference if you hand them a selection with a higher reading level. Personally, I don't love all of the Magic Tree House series for some of the magic explored, so I found another great author, Jessie Stuart, who offers several adventure books that follow the same formatting- short chapters, plenty of pictures, and higher reading levels (2nd -6th). Whatever your stance, a little time searching can yield great finds that challenge the reader without overwhelming them. You can e-mail me for more titles if need be.

All in all, it took about 3 months of utilizing the above tricks before he resumed his prior reading habits. I am happy to say that we now have a balance between challenging literature and fun easy reads. Throw the above in your magic bag of tricks and you are sure to find something that will motivate your kids to read. If you have a trick of your own, be sure to let me know. One never knows when another couch potato may strike.

Pooped.

2010-07-01T11:37:00.000-07:00

Thank you for all the e-mails, comments, phone calls, prayers, texts, and well wishes for today's surgery. The spiritual and moral support is invaluable and encourages us when things get tough.

We started early at 6:45 this morning and are now safely at home. We were lucky enough to score our favorite nurse and laughed when the staff greeted us by name as we checked in. Apparently, they call us the "Frequent Flyers."

This round was more painful than the previous treatment and presented some complications. The skin at the center of today's procedure burnt with the laser. We are trying to calm menacing blisters, which are the source of the pain. Morphine is starting to wear off, but we do have a cache of weapons in our supply. Overall, everybody is fine. However, I know one family that will be in bed before 8:00 this evening. We can now take off our "hospital hats" and put on our "normal parent hats" for nineteen more days before heading in for round #3 this summer.

Off to my demanding patient. . .

A Day in the Life- Part 53 (I am Lacking Creative Juices Today)

2010-06-26T10:45:00.000-07:00

Yeah, yeah it has been ages since the last post- what is new? I worked too many hours each week and turned into a slightly psychotic mom juggling work and kids. Luckily, last week was full of VBS opportunities, which allowed for a mental break and recovery.

On the medical front, we have another surgery on Thursday, July 1st. A month certainly flew by without my awareness. We also got a call from the hospital saying that they moved Nisha's MAJOR surgery up from November to July 20 due to her priority status. While we are somewhat glad that it will take place within Aaron's summer vacation, we are dreading the big day. We had planned to go on vacation that week, but alas, it won't be possible. The boys are devastated. I am thinking Disney is in our future. . . after all, it is the happiest place on earth.

On the summer school front, we haven't accomplished anything. Seriously. I still have high hopes and hope to get back into our abbreviated schooling routine on Monday. There has been some eye rolling and general apathy about others going around this house, so my priority is a good dose of community service. I certainly don't want a video game toting, eye rolling, punk kid. I figure that plenty of service to others may be curative- our first adventure is serving breakfast to 150 people in the morning. If you have any suggestions for young kids in service, I am all ears.

On the adapting to adoption front, we have had some real issues. So trying indeed, that we may have to seek outside help. That statement does not come lightly and it is extremely humbling to admit. I won't go into details, but I will say the stress of family life is impacting everyone in the house. Enough said. Pray for all of us.

My main excitement this week pertains to the acquisition of our newest family member- Mr. Cello. Asher officially began his musical career and will study at the same school with Eden. We purposefully chose to have the kids work with two different instruments to alleviate competition, especially since Eden has already been playing his violin for a year. Just when I thought I was done with cat like screeching, it begins again. One day it will be worth it, right? In the meantime, I am enjoying learning alongside the boys and watching them learn to love music.

So that is it. I am off to paint the house in the middle of this 95 degree day. Tonight the family is planning to play board games (so glad we are finally moving past Candy Land to new uncharted ventures such as Uno and Twister). Never a dull moment.

Birthdays, Graduations, and the Like

2010-06-12T07:28:00.000-07:00

Asher turns 8!

I am regretting that I chose to ride with Asher. Maybe I should have picked a kid that wasn't tall enough to drive?

Nisha only allowing the workers to put her in the "pretty" planes. Sigh.

Um, I think they are too big for this one.

Abundant positive changes have occurred in the Tague household. Three of us had birthdays, which brought more gray hairs and the beginnings of a spare tire for two of us. Asher turned 8 and commemorated the day with a giant Jack Daniel's burger from Fridays (per his request). He deemed the day his best birthday ever.

Aaron FINALLY graduated with his Master's Degree, which has freed up hours of time each evening. We realized the new found freedom when we sat down at 8:30 and had a decent conversation about something other than school. Normally, the evenings are passed working on assignments and papers.

In a celebratory mood, we added in a trip to Holiday World for a day of family fun. Nisha couldn't get wet, but we all managed to have a good time. While it is a fantastic park for young children, there certainly is an unusual crowd in southern Indiana. While in transit, we were able to spot Holiday World travelers by their clothing (or lack there of) and vehicle condition (abundant rust and children packed in extended passenger vans is a sure sign).

In regards to work, we are swapping responsibilities this summer. Aaron is on kid duty while I am working full time on SAT's in June. Tutoring is also helping to pay off those student loans. Aaron did secure a grant to develop a course website for his AP classes at his high school. He also scored big by going through lockers on the last day of school. Kids left textbooks, designer clothing, and all sorts of sell-able goods. Last week, we made $350 on Amazon selling some of those items and hope to liquidate the rest of the items in the near future. All this for the cause of becoming debt free. :)

Now the family is off to more graduation open houses. Long gone are the days of cake and punch, now the parties are catered events complete with entertainment and children's activities. The kids think the parties are exciting because they get to eat cake and jump in bounce houses, and we like them because we don't have to cook and can enjoy fancy parties. I hope there are some scheduled for tomorrow too. Have a great day- we are off!

One Down, Five to Go

2010-06-03T15:00:00.000-07:00

This morning we headed off for surgery 31 of the 2010 summer season. Today's work included skin shaving and laser surgery on Nisha's leg and back. Unfortunately, Aaron had to work and couldn't change his last required event of the year; so I had to "man up" and do it myself. The good news is that the surgery went well, and all that was intended was accomplished. God providentially arranged for two nurses with adopted children to care for us.

While waiting for the surgery to be completed, I pumped myself with sugar so that I wouldn't pass out in the recovery room. Unfortunately, those efforts were in vain. The adolescent next to her was projectile vomiting/yelling/and showing signs of respiratory distress. That lovely scene (and smell) mixed with Nisha's grief and terror stricken yells proved to be too much. Again, I was humbled by the adoptive, mom nurses that stepped in when I could not function and found a large supply of apple juice to revive the senses.

After I found my legs again, it was clear that Nisha was having a difficult time recovering from the separation (which I am sure she thought was abandonment), so they pumped her up with some heavy duty sedatives, pain killers, and anti-nausea medicine and offered to let us escape. As suspected, once she left the hospital, her demeanor greatly improved. We have drugs for the pain, which I am told feels like a sunburn x 10. In the meantime, she can't swim and has to be on guard for infection. Round #2 of the laser surgery and skin shaving is scheduled for July 1, 2010. Can't wait.

Thank you for your e-mails, notes, phone calls, and prayers. We treasure our friends :)

Yet Another Week Rolls By. . .

2010-05-25T08:44:00.000-07:00

I just got the confirmation call that Nisha will indeed have surgery on her leg next Thursday between 7:00 am and 12:00 pm. The OR and the doctor have both assured me that a company official from the manufacturers of the surgical laser equipment will be flying in to help perform the surgery. In light of everything, I am classifying this surgery as "3.5" on the seriousness spectrum.

Yesterday, I was summoned to meet with Nisha's plastic surgeon, who is also the doctor treating the malignant skin. A few weeks ago, I received a surgical calendar charting out the next round of treatment, which included 9 surgeries. In essence, this felt like a three month prison sentence for the entire family. We had an uneasiness about the whole plan- even though we had helped create it. In the end, we rashly called and canceled all of it deciding that we were done with any cosmetic efforts and really felt that we were done with medical interventions.

So, I went in to the meeting yesterday ready to state our decisions and explain our reasonings for coming to that conclusion. However, I quickly realized that my job at the meeting was to listen. The doctor supports our decision to halt all cosmetic procedures, but is quite adamant about performing a surgery to remove more of the malignant areas. Kids with Nisha's condition go one of three routes: 1) are perfectly healthy 2) contract melanoma 3) develop entanglements with the nervous system, eventually causing seizures and a quick death. We have ruled out option one, are dealing with option two, and are hoping to avoid option 3 . With that in mind, the doctor felt it absolutely necessary to take as much of the malignant area as possible to avoid future complications. Coming down to a "life or death situation", his words, I signed on the line for the surgical intervention.

On the seriousness scale, this one will rank a 9.5. What does that mean for recovery? Likely worse than our last round. When will it occur? God only knows, but I guess late fall. Why don't you get a second opinion? We think we have the best doctor available and are through with medical appointments. While he is at it. . . he is also going to remove the rest of the marking across her face. Initially, that means another Beverly Hills looking nose, a bloody and swollen eye, and tons of facials swelling. However, we know it eventually returns to normal. This isn't considered cosmetic (it is necessary to remove it), but I think it will have a huge impact on how she is perceived by others (if the behavior doesn't get them first).

The last remarks included lots of comments about her "full personality." Sigh. It is not for a lack of effort.

I have had no luck nailing down ear surgery information. At this point, I am about to out my surgical gloves and tongs and have a go at it myself. We keep a stock of children's Vicodin, so I am thinking it is possible. Google surly has instructions.

Bed wetting and a Light Flips On!

2010-05-14T17:48:00.000-07:00

I have been a horrible blogger. I know it. Last week, I worked 37 hours on top of all my normal duties. At last I am ready to spill the thoughts of the week.

Lying in bed last night I started thinking more about the adoption adjustment period. News flash: we are still adjusting. I generally disregard adoption literature, because most of it is filled with senseless advice from experts that have never walked in my shoes. If you haven't been there, don't tell me what to do. There seems to be a stigma among the adoption communities that says you can't talk about the experience being unimaginably hard. Luckily, I am blessed to have a local friend that has her fill of struggles who can understand and swap sentiments. Additionally, the camaraderie of all of my Internet buds, supporting from the beginning has been a God send. Perhaps I will write my own adoption book one day including chapters from lots of my pals sharing what worked and didn't work in their homes. I am sure that will earn the critique of several "experts."

I have noticed a couple changes in Nisha's adjustment over the last couple of months. First, she started wetting the bed at night again. She arrived home at age 3, we potty trained her relatively quickly and she was fine. However, after her major surgery she started wetting the bed again. Veteran adoptive moms tell me that this is actually a good sign because she is finally relaxing enough at night to be unaware of her body signals. Not sure how to balance out security with practicality, but I guess progress is being made.

Second, I noticed a huge jump in her academic skills as of late. I attribute some of this to her Omega 3 intake, which has been worth it's weight in gold. However, I also think that she needed time to adjust before she was ready to process new information. I remember weeks and weeks of going over her colors, only to have the information go in one ear and out the other. We took paint swatch samples, labeled them and stuck them on a ring for drilling practice, but nothing worked. In sheer frustration, I quit trying to do anything "academic" with her. In January, she was still testing as delayed in her preschool class. However, this week her results came back at the high end of the average range. She spots letters on signs, makes thoughtful observations, and seems to be quickly acquiring new information. She still has a long way to go in the area of speech, but we are finally getting somewhere. With school ending in a week, I guess I will have to step up my home instruction.

Not only does Nisha have to adjust, but the same is true for everyone in our family. The boys seem to be relating favorably with their sister, especially now when she can play more age appropriately. Asher is reading to her regularly (which is a win/win situation) and Eden is finding a willing playmate. Aaron and I still find the mix of biological and adopted kid dynamic to be an issue. Bad behaviors often cloud our interactions with one another- it just depends on the day. Last week Nisha screamed and ranted for nearly 5 hours - because she couldn't watch television. When this occurs, we usually just place in her room as to not subject the rest of the family to permanent ear damage. Finally, when the situation was almost laughable, she opened her door, sauntered out with a big smile on her face and said, "What? What are you all looking at?" Really? Wow. We never know what we are going to get, which often frustrates and tires us.

We still have a very long way to go before we can say that we have fully adjusted to one another. Some days are mostly filled with hours of tantrums and tirades and others are a bit smoother. All this to say that this situation is still a major work in progress. If you have newly adopted kiddos, or a home spun "piece of work," know that even the bleakest situation will be resolved in time. In the meantime, keep a good supply of French truffles and a stash of fine wine (OK, $3 Buck Chuck is fine too).

The Mother's Day Loot- Don't be Jealous!

2010-05-10T07:17:00.000-07:00

Exhibit A: Handprint flowers made by Eden and Nisha.
Exhibit B: Mother's Day Card sketched in the back of the van on the way home from church.

Exhibit C: Asher's Mother's Day gift. He found it on the ground at the zoo the other day and thought that I could use it. After giving it a thorough scrub, I proudly wore it.

So, what about you? Did you score the perverbial handprint art or score something more unique (like my hairclip from the zoo)? Hope you all had a relaxing and stress free Mother's Day :)

Surgery Update

2010-05-06T12:53:00.000-07:00

The last 24 hours have been wasted effort. After not sleeping a wink last night and getting everyone up at 5:45 this morning we drug ourselves into the hospital for the 7:00 am surgery prep, we found ourselves frustrated with a fruitless visit. We kept being shuffled from operating rooms and knew that there was an obvious problem. As it turns out, Nisha is the first kid in the hospital network to receive treatment with the newest laser system. She needs one specific machine to reduce scarring and pigmentation issues later. As it turns out, Nisha's doctor is the only one certified to use the machine. However, OR officials decided that they wanted 2 trained physicians in the operating room "just in case something goes wrong." Boy have I heard those words before- and experienced the shock when something did go wrong. Anyway, a company rep was supposed to assist with the surgery, but was unable to do so at the last minute. All that for nothing :(

Now we are on the books for June 3rd with a fairly major ear surgery in between now and then.

Thank you for all of the encouraging e-mails, notes, and prayers that were sent our way. We are certainly blessed to have such a wonderful support system.

The Toothless Wonder and Sticky Fingers

2010-04-30T17:19:00.000-07:00

The tooth fairy made an appearance at our home claiming one of Asher's two front teeth. The coon skin cap with the missing tooth shot makes him look like he was born and raised in Appalachia.

All three kids were due at the dentist this week so it was the Tague family invasion on the office. Keep in mind that I chose this dentist because he and his wife are Indian and think it is neat we adopted a child from their home country. On the way to the appointment I was trying to make the prospect of seeing other people from India very exciting. Upon arrival, I found that our dentist was out of the office and another white guy was taking his place. Nisha stomped right up to the man and yelled, You NO India!" She was rather disgusted and made sure he knew it.

The appointments went well for the boys, but Nisha caused some extra stress for her hygienist. Her hands are always moving, sometimes quicker than I can see and predict. Needless to say, the mouth sucker and the water squirter tools were put to good use and both the hygienist and Nisha were fairly drenched after the ordeal. They are probably glad that we won't be back for another 6 months!

Now that the teeth are squared away, we can prepare for Nisha's surgery Thursday. Unfortunately, the doctors couldn't collaborate on this round, so the focus will be to remove some of the nevus areas on Nisha's leg. I *think* this will be a fairly short surgery with minimal recovery, although with Nisha I will have a suitcase packed and ready in the van should we need it. The last go-round included reactions to the anesthetic, so we shall see! More updates soon.

Seeds Everywhere

2010-04-27T11:53:00.000-07:00

On our trek to become more healthy and frugal we decided to grow a lot of our own food this year. We looked into CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture groups), but decided we probably couldn't use most of the strange food items that were included in the $550 package. Instead, we have made raised bed boxes, a terrace planting, and seeds just about everywhere. Lowes was getting rid of their herbs yesterday so I scored a large variety for pennies on the dollar. We found some old gutters in our garage and decided to use them for lettuce varieties. Pots, gutters, roofing supplies and even old shoes have been recruited for growing seeds. I am happy to see that several of my plants are sprouting and growing tall. I chose organic heirloom seeds to ensure that my food isn't genetically altered and hasn't been doused with pesticides.

Bottom line: $20 spent on good seeds will hopefully produce over $500 of great food. Even if you don't have space for a garden, you can probably cultivate something edible in the junk you have scattered around your house.

Boredom Buster with Educational Value (Maybe)

2010-04-22T11:00:00.000-07:00

Our study of medieval history takes to the Celts in Britain and their literary contribution of Beowulf. Our cast is made up of King Hrothgar whose kingdom is invaded by a terrible, menacing, man-eating monster named Grendel. Cue Grendel (AKA Eden). King Hrothgar and his subjects go to sleep in the castle each night, and awake in the morning only to find out that the monster, Grendel, has encroached on the royal hall and eaten some of the subjects (AKA Lego men).

Not to worry, a strapping lad named Beowulf (AKA Nisha) has stepped up to the challenge to slay the carnivorous monster. He requires no armor or weaponry, vowing to kill the monster with his bare hands.

While no one is stirring in the royal hall, Grendel slips in for a midnight snack. Such a tempting selection!

Oh, no. . . wait. Beowulf steps in and twists off Grendel's arm. Grendel, now writhing in pain, runs to the river where he drowns (much to the delight of the town). King Hrothgar throws a banquet in honor of Beowulf's victory and decides to decorate the hall with. . . Grendel's bloody arm!

Grendel, now writhing in pain, flees to the river where he eventually drowns (to the delight of the town). King Hrothgar throws a celebratory banquet in Beowulf's honor and decides to decorate the hall with . . . Grendel's bloody arm.

And now, I have heard the story retold 9, 683,209 times, with special emphasis on the twisting off the arm part. What an exciting day.

My Latest Money Making Adventure

2010-04-20T06:34:00.000-07:00

If I were to estimate the number of jobs I have had over my lifetime, it would probably be in the hundreds :) Some jobs I have had for years, others days or hours (OK, there have been a few that have lasted only a few minutes before I left- think fireplace sales person, patio furniture sales person, sporting goods sales person, grill sales person). The worst job of all times was when I delivered phone books, thought I was moving quickly, and then discovered that I had delivered them to the wrong street :( Needless to say, that was one of the jobs I quit in about two hours. I do not have issues with commitment as I had my first job for over 7 years, but I tend to try out new jobs before really thinking them through.

I have always wanted to get into mystery shopping, but I figured it was mostly a scam and never took the plunge. When I saw one of my favorite frugal moms (Money Saving Mom) write a post on reputable mystery shopping companies, I quickly applied and was hired. For months the offers have been rolling in, but I have been skeptical. This week I decided to try out a couple of shops and found that mystery shopping is fun, easy, and rewarding. The first two jobs required that I eat at a national restaurant chain and report back on the cleanliness and friendliness of the establishment. This is by no means a great money maker, rather the company paid for gas and 5 members of my family to eat (anything they wanted) at the given locations. I paid for the bill and tip and the money was reimbursed in my Paypal account. Let me tell you, it was not a bad way to incorporate a free, fun, family outing into the week! Not to mention I didn't have to cook twice :) Unfortunately, the mystery shopping blew my healthy menu plan, but a little splurge doesn't hurt now and then. If you think mystery shopping sounds fun you can start by applying here. Watch out Indianapolis, your newest mystery shopper is on the prowl!

The Princess and Her Ball

2010-04-19T11:39:00.000-07:00

On Saturday Nisha and Aaron were invited to speak at a Dance-a-thon to benefit Riley Children's Hospital. While our family has been treated at both local children's hospitals, Riley has been fantastic about paying for procedures, surgeries, and doctors visits when we didn't couldn't have otherwise paid for the services and has done a fantastic job of treating Nisha age appropriately as a person instead of a rare condition. This marked the second father/daughter appearance.

We should have just waited until Saturday evening to tell Nisha where she was going because she drove us nuts making wardrobe and accessory selections. The date prep included lots of nail polish, glitter, and lip gloss (it was a real stretch for me). As usual, Nisha commanded her subjects attention by requiring that the high school students make her assorted beaded jewelery creations, serve her several cookies, and escort her on the dance floor. While I did send the camera with the duo, it returned without any pictures to document the affair. Luckily, I snapped a few before I sent them off.

I guess we can hang the party dress up for this year and look forward to more appearance next year ;)

Adventures in Parenting

2010-04-15T16:13:00.000-07:00

Those without a good sense of humor should probably skip this post. You have been forewarned.

My apologies to anyone that was in the Hummel Park bathroom yesterday. It was bad. I will spare the guts and gore and leave it to your imagination. As you know, my daughter speaks louder than most people and she is a drama queen. Unfortunately, there was a line for the women's bathroom, and while I contemplated darting into the men's bathroom, I ultimately decided we couldn't take care of the problem in a urinal. When we finally made it to the stall, Nisha began to take care of business. Next came extreme gagging and comments that provoked peals of laughter from the surrounding stalls. Finally, the show ended with Nisha vomiting and me following suit. How does one exit the bathroom after all that? Very humbly. After the first two kids, I thought nothing would phase me, but obviously, I was mistaken.

On to more adventures with 3 crazy kids. . .

What's Worse Than a Backseat Driver?

2010-04-08T08:55:00.000-07:00

What's worse than a backseat driver? An Indian 4 year old that shouts directions to all her favorite jaunts. It began with comments like, "Whoa, slow down Mama!" Next came comments like, "Light is red, STOP!" After having no success with her driving instructions, she changed her tactic. Yesterday while shuttling to and from school, I was given specific instructions. Oh, it all sounded innocent in the beginning with subtle directions like, "Left right here, Mama." Impressed that she was using such great directional words, I followed her directions. Next came a pointing finger, which guided the van to a row of shops. As we cruised by, she shouted, "STOP!" My smarty pants had directed me to her favorite pizza shop. Today I was much smarter and kept the van in auto pilot while she tried to direct me to the playground in the next town over, and show me the interstate entrance which takes us to another favored play site.

Granted, I am thrilled that she has met the 3-4 year old bench mark where kids become aware of their surroundings. However, I am not enthusiastic about receiving driving lessons and directions from my four year old.

I am off this weekend to a school convention in Cincinnati, so Aaron will have the pleasure of having his skills critiqued tomorrow. You can bet, Nisha will have her game face on as she plans her tactic for fresh meat ;)

You Know it is Going to be Bad . . .

2010-04-06T10:52:00.000-07:00

1) When you go the beauty school for a $5 haircut and they assign you to 65 year old man, who starts crying when he sees how much hair he needs to cut.

2) When you request that the same man cut off 2" and he says, "Oops, it looks like it is going to be more like 4 inches."

3) When you see the same man start perspiring so heavily that the instructor has to come over and finish the hair cut.

4) When you go to Rock Bottom, order lemon chicken, take a few big bites and then realize that your chicken is raw.

5) When you come home from Rock Bottom and spend the night in the bathroom.

6) When the kids spend the day at the creek and then introduce to you to their new pet. . . crayfish.

7) When you notice an odd silence in the house and realize that the kids are entertaining themselves with. . . their pill bug farm.

8) When you notice Nisha snacking in the car, realize that you didn't give her anything to eat, and later find out that she found the string cheese you lost in the car. . . last week.

9) When one of your kids tells you that they pooped in the woods.

10) When you pull back the covers, prepare to fall into your bed, and realize that you are sharing it with a centipede.

Only my life.

More Stone Soup

2010-04-01T05:07:00.000-07:00

Another visit with another doctor- the story of our lives! In 4 weeks, when Nisha undergoes surgery on her leg, another surgeon is going to reconstruct one of her ear drums. In short, a piece of skin from behind her ear will be excised and altered to create a new ear drum, which will hopefully correct some of the hearing loss. She will need to have the surgery twice, one ear at a time, but it will be completed concurrently with plastic surgery. Instead of 9 surgeries this summer, we will only have 7. While it all seems superfluous and ridiculous at times, we hope that the next 6 months will take care of the main issues at hand and then only require maintenance surgeries as the bad cells spread or pop up.

Sounds like a fun summer, huh? On the flip side, we are trying to squeeze in a visit with several of Nisha's friends from India and possibly plan a vacation in the winter- we shall see.

Nothing more on the medical front until the first of May, until then we are enjoying the fabulous weather and working together to build the mother of all gardens. Aaron is off tomorrow for Good Friday. It always amazed me that the Christian schools (Aaron's former employers) had normal school days on the most important days of our faith. Now at a Jesuit school, he has the day off. I think some square foot gardening projects may be in his immediate future ;)

Another great feat requiring hours and hours of time has been the completion of several projects required for Aaron's masters degree. I am happy to report that after researching, writing, and editing we have completed the portfolio (equivalent to a thesis project) and all other major assignments. The only thing standing in the way of graduation is one 8 week course. Wow! We thought the day would never come and we find ourselves dreaming about all the fun things we are going to do with the evening hours we will gain back in June.

So, maybe this post is somewhat of a justification supporting all the excuses I have for not blogging on any type of frequent schedule? The goofy life experiences continue with the Tague family, but our currently responsibilities haven't allowed us to share regularly. More soon. . .

Checking Jobs Off the List

2010-03-28T16:03:00.000-07:00

As you know, our house is a never ending, work in progress. Only the kids have bedrooms that are completely finished. When we want work done. . . we do it ourselves, so it has been a real learning experience. I happily scored glass tile for my kitchen for $4 a square foot and was eager to install it upon it's arrival. Despite a slightly painful electrocution (which still has my arm tingling) I was able to knock this job out in about one hour. We will see if it is still adhered to the wall tomorrow morning ;) Note the cabinets that are assembled, installed, and happily awaiting their counter top (that we haven't made yet). Oh well- all in good time. I haven't been on the internet this week, but we were able to take advantage of the spring break and knock out several projects around the house that were annoying us. Summer break is only 9 weeks away!!!! We go back to the hospital tomorrow so you can expect an updated report.

Think Challenge

2010-03-24T13:51:00.000-07:00

I decided that my kids need to use their noggins more, especially in the area of invention and cause and effect. See the post below this for confirmation. My plan is to implement a weekly "Think Challenge" where the kids are given items found around the house and are asked to create something useful out of the junk. You can imagine my enthusiasm when I ran across a Lego challenge available to any person in the education field, which would include homeschoolers or anyone that attempts to educate their children in any area within their house. In essence, if you sign up for a Lego Smart kit, the company will send you a bag of Legos and challenge you to create an educational activity using only the given pieces. There are monthly prizes which amount to $10,000. I say, "GAME ON!" I not only claimed my kit, but I am making plans to WIN. You can compete against me by signing up for your free kit here. If you have any ideas that will help me win, those are always welcome too ;)

2010-03-24T13:28:00.000-07:00

Spring break has ushered in a whole host of growth and learning opportunities. For Nisha, the main lesson has been that it is not appropriate for girls to pee in the woods (no matter what her older brothers may tell her). Eden has expanded his horizons and decided that he no longer wants to be a professional motorcycle racer, but that instead he will be a musical protege preferably just like Bach. Hey, I guess it is good to shoot for the stars, right? Asher has been pondering his future, which will include drinking cokes instead of water and eating doughnuts for every meal. Wow.

The kids aren't actually on any type of break, however, Aaron and I have been able to tag team to take care of daily activities and fix some of the junk around the house that drives us crazy but that we normally ignore. It is amazing how little time is actually required to remedy problems that we complain about so often.

Today my list included a visit to the hospital where Nisha was seen by the main doctor following her skin condition. The doctor is Indian, pushes involvement at a local Hindu temple-not going to happen, but is a good sounding board for thought and plans for future treatments. While I didn't receive any specific bad news today, it was more of the same comments comparing Nisha to a ticking time bomb- how encouraging and uplifting, right? I am finding that I have two modes for life: 1) daily life where I pretend everything is great and will have a super happy ending and 2) the days where we go to doctors and I want to throw up when they talk about prognosis and future plans. Yeah, I walked out and realized I had pit rings down to my waist.

In short, we have one surgery planned for the first Thursday in May. Hopefully, this won't be too major and will take away some of the cosmetic issues involved on her leg. Four follow-up surgeries will follow, likely one per month. Somewhere mixed into all that, we still have the major plastic surgeries thrown in to remove the cancerous areas on her leg and back.

On that note, I am ready to call it a full day. However, duty calls and I have some shuttling to do before Aaron and I sit down to discuss books. We decided we were going to give ourselves the classical education that we never received as kids, which includes following the recommended reading in The Well Educated Mind by Susan Wise Bauer. Tonight's reading is Dorothy Sayer's 1947 essay, "The Lost Tools of Learning." Should be a real page turner ;)

One Step Short of Crazy

2010-03-18T14:53:00.000-07:00

Not sure what is going on around here, but someone has been barely tolerable for the last week. Nothing about her schedule or regime has changed so I am left to think it is either a) a developmental phase or b) a physical problem. This week I lived through several nail biting tantrums where I thought I just might lose it. They were so bad that the boys and I ended up laughing (out of the room of course) because they were so reminiscent of the first days, nearly a year ago. Food thrown. Incessant screaming for up to an hour. Willful disobedience. Need I say more?

Next week we go back to the hospital for a check with the dermatologist (who was the first to find the Melanoma) for another thorough check up. Oh joy. This is probably just a phase, but with all of the health issues at hand, one never knows. Welcome to the adventure of life with Nisha. Hopefully, I will get some answers soon, but in the meantime I find myself whispering "This too shall pass!" and singing "We shall over come. . ."

School Pictures- Take 2

2010-03-16T11:22:00.001-07:00

With the participation in the public school system comes school picture opportunities not once, but twice per year. As you will well remember, the fall pictures did not go so well for Miss Nisha. Ultimately, she fell of the little black stool and struck so many poses, the photographer couldn't quite capture a shot. Sigh. We are better prepared for round 2, which will take place tomorrow morning. In an effort to tame the hair I tried yet another ethnic hair oil to calm the frizz. Nothing works. The last product included directions that allowed for use as a shower wash and hair nourisher. Without giving detailed instructions, I sent Aaron in to shower Nisha using the new product. If you saw her at church on Sunday, then you will know she looked like a drowned, oily cat. Yes, we do bath our kids everyday, even though that wasn't apparent on Sunday. With the hair oil in moderation, a good talk about picture taking protocol, and a fancy dressed selected for the occasion (I had to veto the Disney princess dress), I believe we are ready for our second shot. I guess if things don't work out, we do know a photographer or two (Clista. . . cough. . . cough). Keep ya posted :)

Gearing Up

2010-03-14T16:17:00.000-07:00

See what $30 on Ebay can get you? Money well spent for our presentation tomorrow and for future opportunities to share about adoption or India. Pray I don't choke and die of nervousness. It could happen.

Interesting to Note

2010-03-11T15:13:00.000-08:00

Nisha's preschool teacher came to the car after school and asked if Nisha was receiving any new medications. When I told her that Nisha was not, she probed further by asking if we were doing anything differently at home such as rigorously practicing her numbers, letters, and shapes. Again, my response was a big negative. She said that all of the sudden Nisha was able to make huge strides towards her academic goals for the year. The teacher said that she noticed and documented a change one week ago. This absolutely legitimizes my supplement and diet experiment! If an impartial and unknowing person noticed and documented a remarkable change, I say the diet is working :) I still hope to see more changes at home and look forward to reporting more advances next week.

Diet Makeover, Say What?

2010-03-10T10:45:00.001-08:00

Everyone that actually knows me can testify to the fact that I eat out of three main food groups: nachos, pizza, and bread sticks. Luckily, my diet habits haven't created rolls or spare tires. . .yet. Improving nutritional habits for myself is just not something worth the added hassle or effort. However, this outlook was modified when my family gathered around the old tube for a viewing of "Food INC." When the kids asked if they could watch the documentary with us I secretly prayed that cute cows and cuddly farm animals would not be slaughtered in front of their innocent eyes. All 5 of us actually sat mesmerized for the entire duration of the show. Nisha pointed out all the animals and made their corresponding sounds, Asher and Eden were hoping for gore, and Aaron and I were gagging at the thought of many of the items we have fed our kids everyday. Sure the film was shocking, but would it bring lasting change?

I am thrilled to report that we have stopped eating processed foods and meat that isn't locally raised on a responsible farm. The thought of eating a burger made up of 3,000 different cows makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit. Unfortunately, it is now very difficult to eat out, as Chipolte and Panera are the only two options we have come across with some healthful options. The kids have actually been okay with the change. When given meat, they ask where the animal came from and they only somewhat begrudgingly swallow down their extra portions of fresh vegetables that seem to reappear on their plates at every meal.

I am still packing away quite few plates of nachos, but some green vegetable items have also found their way down the hatch. Next time you need a quality movie for your family night, check out Food INC ;)

Supplement Scoop

2010-03-05T15:35:00.000-08:00

Today marks one full week of the intense omega 3 therapy. While I have not noticed any changes in focus, attention, or hyperactivity I would like to note a very positive potential side effect. While it could be a total fluke, I am thrilled to report that Nisha slept through the night 6 nights in a row- since taking the lechitin and omega 3's. My brain integration manuals reported that improved sleep patterns were very common with the these supplements, but I really wasn't expecting improvements for several more weeks. Let me tell you this is a very welcome change. We have gone from getting up 150 times per night to zero! AGHHHHHHHHH!

My fingers are crossed. . . this isn't a fluke. . . this is a new reality.

A Birthday Celebration

2010-03-03T16:13:00.000-08:00

Eden, my fun loving, creative, sweet spirited kiddo turned 6 yesterday! We decided to brave the ghetto (wearing our bullet proof vests) and headed over to Xscape to take advantage of their weekly playtime specials. There wasn't a soul there (maybe people fear having their tires shot out?) and the kids had free reign of laser tag, bowling, go karts, bumper cars, video games, and carnival rides. For young children, the place was a hit!

The festivities continued today with school friends and we are gearing up for another family party on Sunday. After this we will need a sugar detox, and a new home for many more Legos.

Happy 6th Birthday, Eden!

Punic War Funny- Slightly Offensive

2010-02-27T14:08:00.000-08:00

The kids decided to make comic books to entertain themselves, but in the end I was the one laughing. Eden (5) created several drawings depicting fighting scenes around a shape that looked like a boot. An interpretation was required to understand all of the artwork and this is what I got:
"The Roman Republic fought the Pubic Wars which was followed by the Pax Romana. In 286 A.D., the empire divided into the western and eastern empire until the barbaric Huns defeated the western empire in 476 A.D."

While I was thrilled that Eden was depicting scenes in history, I am pretty sure that there is a difference between the Pubic Wars and Punic Wars. Aren't we all a work in progress?