Sunday, October 24, 2010

I forget

Yesterday we had the privilege of attending an Adoption/Foster Care conference (our third year to attend this great ministry). I truly love going to this once a year... it is the shot in the arm you need each year to remind yourself of the family that God has called you into... not only do you get the reminder, but you learn about new techniques to help in the parenting process, new books exploring the life of an adoptive family/adoptee/race-trans racial adoption... many wonderful things to help you in this journey!

You might be asking yourself why do I need a reminder... "I mean look at your family photos all over your home, can't you see that you are clearly an adoptive family?!" No I don't forget how our family came together, what I do forget is where my children came from... I stop seeing them as children who've come from a hard place, I see them as my children... I see them as normal, our normal (which is not really normal for most people). This conference reminds me that my children didn't come from a loving womb, or where their first years were stable, safe, or secure... Instead I spend my days correcting behaviors, and lose sight of the child(ren).

I forget that I know why my children will act out in certain ways and need a certain response from us... and get angry with our extended family when we are criticized for how we do things... they don't understand... I forget that I should spend time educating them so that they can better support Daddio and me in our efforts and the boys for that matter.

I forget that 6 years really doesn't mean anything to healing the wounds of their past.

I forget to honor their birth parents for choosing life... even though I know about what they did that caused harm to my boys, at least they didn't abort my children! Praise GOD!

Because they rarely bring it up, I forget to ask them how they feel about their adoption, or their race, their birth parents/family... I forget that they may not have the words to ask, I forget that their silence may not be because they aren't interested but maybe because they don't know how or where to go with their thoughts.

I forget to thank God for our infertility... because I don't know if my boys would be my boys had we been able to conceive. And that is pretty painful to admit because for so long I carried MY infertility as such a burden, a punishment, even a curse... clearly our Heavenly Father knows better than I ever could.

So thank you Monroe Family for your adoption story, thank you God for calling them to start up the Tapestry Ministry, and for all the hard work in getting the conference up and running each year!

If you want to know more about the conference please check out these wonderful websites for resources, videoed sessions, and ministry/conference details:

www.empoweredtoconnect.org

www.tapestryconference.com/resources

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Ummm, sorry

So it's been a while since I've blogged... sorry! We've been busy! Pretty much since we returned home from Florida, I had to get us back in the groove because I knew we only had two full weeks and then a half week before we would be back on the road again for another mini trip! It's camping weather... YEAH! Last week we packed up the beast and headed north... well north east I guess really... to Beavers Bend in Oklahoma! This is probably our favorite park to camp in, especially in the fall. Hiking through the mountains with the leaves all changing, it really is quite something. So here are a few pics from our trip... once I get them put into our online album I'll put a link... we got all artsy with the nature, and some are super cool!

First up, it is really nice to have a junior camera man in our family. Bobcat has gotten really good using our big SLR! We now actually have pictures of just the two of us at places... and as a friend said... proof that we were there too!
See what I mean about the trees... aren't they just lovely. And if you like finding things... you might catch a sighting of the boys way up ahead. We love our walkie talkies... the boys are familiar with the trails and can go quite a ways from us on the trail exploring, and we can hang back taking artsy pictures that annoy them when they have to wait for us :-).And this blog post wouldn't be complete without a pic of my three little bumps on a log!

Now I must go get ready for an adoption conference... oh I'm so excited! Great speakers and being surrounded by families like us is just a great way to spend a day!

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

RunKeeper

I'll admit one reason I could hardly wait to get my iPhone was to use one of those cool running apps that tracked everything you did! Well, I bought my phone two weeks ago... a few days before we left for Florida so I wasn't really able to look for and install and app or even use it for that matter.

Until today!!!! Yippeee, I read reviews (for several days, on several websites) and finally decided on one that was free (you can pay for the upgrade, but why for now, right?)... RunKeeper.com I used it today and am quite pleased with it. The running time is large and easy to read, and it was really cool to actually find out the distance of the park loop that we run most sessions (we guessed it was about a .5 mile... turns out it is .6).

I just wish my running muscle memory was as cool as the app... turns out that taking off two weeks for vacation, well um, made me forget how to run... well actually my lungs forgot how to work... my legs are fine.

Anyway... I will keep you posted on how I like this program. If you are using any with your smart phone, and like them... please share!

Monday, October 4, 2010

To Florida and back again.

Here we go... the boys first plane trip!





St. Augustine... the old city... this first shot is inside the visitors center.
Oldest Wooden School House!
St. Photios National Greek Orthodox Shrine... it was breathtaking!
Basilica Cathedral
Check out that sundial... at it was right!
Castillo de San Marcos... they had a canon firing demonstration!

Mission of Nombre De Dios... the actual spot of the first Mass... 55 years before the pilgrims arrived.
St. Augustin Lighthouse... 219 steps up! At the top you are at an astonishing 165 feet with a great view of the city and the ocean!

It really is a beautiful lighthouse... and still operational. If we weren't so hungry it would have been nice to stay and see it lit up!
Cocoa Beach! We made it to the Atlantic Ocean!!! This was the first time the boys and I have dipped our toes in this ocean! Naturally we had to get a shot of the awesome lifeguard stand... we don't have those at Port A!

Hey, here we go!!! A ride on the Monorail before the park opens... MK here we come!
When we first got into the park we headed straight up to the steam train to take a tour of the park. We were the first ones on, and had to head to the very back... the caboose conductor invited Bubba to be the Guest Conductor... he got to wear the hat (the whole ride) and say on the intercom "ALL ABOARD"!

My favorite float from the night parade at MK.