In Praise Of Foster Parents

The weekend before Christmas has become the time when we host our annual get together with my children’s former foster parents.  I’ve posted about them before but for those of you that are new to our blog or adoption forum, let me backtrack a bit. When we adopted our children, they were 5, 8 and 11 and had been in the foster system for 4 years, the last three being spent with foster parents Pat & Bill.  Over...

It’s That Time Of The Year Again

Tomorrow, June 5th, is my daughter’s 14th birthday, but we won’t be celebrating. Let me explain…. When we adopted her, she was eight years old (We also adopted her two siblings at the same time). For the first couple of years, the week leading up to her birthday was always a time of turmoil for us. Moodiness, nastiness and sadness would fill her up and hurt anyone in her path, usually us, her family. Some...

Keeping In Touch With Former Foster Parents

I’ve previously blogged about the great relationship we have with our children’s former foster parents. Since we finalized our adoption (2003), we’ve made it a point to see them once or twice a year. My kid’s had other foster parents, besides Pat & Bill, but they lived with this particular couple for the last three (of the four) years. In the beginning I felt it was important for my children to...

My Doggie Bookends

I had to share this picture of my dogs resting on both ends of the futon in our family room. This is Mini in her favorite position: This is TJ, in her favorite position: I love that they’re both in the same position. LOL!! They’re both miniature poodles and are from the same litter. Share ...

More Disney Pictures

Here’s a few more pictures from Future World (it’s in Epcot) in Disney World.  You can scroll down a few posts for the rest of them. Jacqueline loved all the technology at Innoventions: One by one, kids came through the sharks mouth and posed nicely while their parents took pictures. While I waited, with my camera ready, for my kids to come through I was hoping they would do more than just smile. Then who should...

Some Recent Pictures

We bought season passes to Disney that we were supposed to start using as a celebration of our 5th year adoption anniversary (we do something to celebrate it every year) but my oldest son, who frequently sabotages family outings for us, announced he would not go, so we had to postpone our week vacation until another time. Not wanting to wallow in self pity, the four of us (my husband,myself and two daughters) decided to start...

Older Child Adoption: The Good, The Bad & The...

Older child adoption has give me more joy, more sadness, more fulfillment, more stress and more gray hairs than anything else in my life. We recently passed our five year adoption mark (we adopted three siblings) and sometimes it feels like five days, while other times it feels like five million years. The Good: My youngest child is now ten and we adopted her at the age of five. Lucky for her, and for us, she was removed...

Ladies Lunch

My daughters & I recently went out to lunch with my aunt Mary (my mothers sister, with Shawna on the right) and my cousin Maryann (my mothers first cousin, with Jacqueline on the left) to our favorite Chinese buffet. I had to share this picture because I love how everybody looks so happy. Share Tags: Older Child Adoption, parents of adopted...

Preparing Your Child To Answer Adoption Questions

Maybe it’s because my own children came to us at an older age…or maybe because my husband & I have different color skin than two of our children, but adoption is a topic we discuss openly and freely. It comes up in natural, conversations that we have with each other and other people. It’s something that is part of our life and “just is”, know what I mean? Whenever people ask me questions like...

Our Adoption Story: Part One

This is part one of our adoption story. To read the rest, click “Our Adoption Story” in the tags. Pre-Adoption: Our Life Before My husband Billy & I always knew we wanted to adopt. We had talked about it, several times, early on in our relationship. Personally, I never had the feeling that I wanted to be pregnant. I’m not quite sure why, it’s just something I’ve always known. As a matter of...

Adoption Connections

When my three children were in foster care (’99-’03), there were two other foster children living in the home with them. One of them was a boy a year older than my youngest. We remain friendly with their former foster parents and still see them a couple of times a year. About six months after we finalized their adoption, Pat (their former foster mother) called me to say that the other boy was starting placement...

My Iguana, Buddie

I discuss my human children here a lot so meet one of my non-human ones…this is our 11 year old iguana…her name is Buddie. These pictures were taken inside our screen room, which is her favorite place to take in the warmth of the sun. This post is part of today’s Wordless Wednesday. Share ...

A Special Memory

This week I am participating in Heads or Tails and the writing prompt is to blog about a special memory. One of my most special memories is from the the day we finalized the adoption of our three children. We were all feeling so many emotions! We had an 8:45 AM appointment at court and we met their caseworker, guardian ad litem and our lawyer there. When it was our turn, we were told to sit at the table on the left, with our...

Our Favorite Family Vacation

This week I am participating in A Slice Of Life Sunday and I’ve chosen to write about my favorite family vacation. My own childhood holds happy memories of several family vacations. Growing up in New York City, we vacationed in places like Ellenville, in upstate NY, where we visited Ice Caves Mountains, and Dutch Wonderland (PA). But this post is about a family vacation that I took with my children and husband…a...

My Daughter’s Hair

I just had to show off my youngest daughters hair. Jacqueline is nine years old and decided on this hairstyle herself. This is not the first time we’ve had extensions put in her hair, but it IS the first time she decided on using another color. We went to the beauty supply store and she looked at all the color before deciding on red. The first picture is her having them done by our friend Camoia. The next picture is...

10 Quirky Things About Myself

Kerri at Kerri’s Journey To Mommyhood posted 10 quirky things about herself and invited her readers to do the same….so I did. 1: I must sleep with socks on. Even when it’s hot. 2: The waistband of whatever I’m wearing has to lay in just the right spot or I have to fix it until it’s exactly where I want it. 3: I gag when I’m around someone brushing their teeth. 4: I have to watch myself in...

Meeting Forever Parents Members

I’ve been so fortunate to be able to meet some of the fantastic women that I’ve grown to love through our adoption forum. So far I’ve met Linny, Robin and Faith…all of which have contributed to this blog. Last week my husband, daughters & I drove to Tampa (we’re about 90 minutes away) to meet the fabulous Lori, who blogs at Weebles Wobblog and posted about our meeting here. She also runs...

What Extended Family Can Mean To A Child That Was ...

Because my children were adopted at an older age (5, 8 and 11), family has extra special meaning to them, especially extended family. They enjoy meeting second and third cousins because it gives them a sense of connection to a whole other side of their family. They get a feeling of being part of something larger than just our immediate family. My cousin Pat, her two daughters and their daughters came to visit this past...

A Day At Home

As homeschoolers, we have the freedom to choose what we do with our days (I’ll share my thought on homeschooling and adoption in another post) and sometimes that includes a day spent at home, which can lead us in many different directions. This mix of photos is from various days spent at home sweet home. Dress up is always a hit. Both girls enjoy it, but Shawna really loves to act out scenes from movies or character...

45 Things I’ve Learned In 45 Years

*~~ Today is my birthday and I’m 45 years old. ~~*I’ve always enjoyed gaining another year under my belt. Even the supposed hard ones, like turning 30 or 40, were welcomed with open arms. I wore each year proudly, almost like a badge of honor. This is the first year that it’s difficult, but not because of the number 45. Difficult because it’s my first time having a birthday without my mother here with...

I Got Tagged: 7 Random Things

My online buddy Lori, who blogs at Weebles Wobblog tagged me to post seven random things about myself, so here goes…you have ben warned. lol1) I have seen The Ramones in concert eleven times. Mostly at CBGB’s2) When I go out, my dog Mini gets angry so she flips the water bowl over in the kitchen and pushes her food bowl into my room and turns it over on my rug. She’s got issues.3) I have six tattoos…so...