Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Alexa Quote - Sage

Meagan told me a quote from Alexa:
Alexa "Sage will be lots harder for you when she gets bigger"
Meagan - "Why?"
Alexa - "Because she'll talk to you while she's on the phone."

Oh Alexa, Mommy is one the phone a lot more than Meagan is.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Golfing & Cartwheels

Tonight we went golfing as a family for FHE. Yes, real golf...with all 4 kids.... it was a suuuuuper fun 3 1/2 hours (with a touch of sarcasm). Jay, Dylan and myself were the official golfers. Noah was a wannabe golfer (he brought his plastic club and had a blast), Alexa was the complaining golfer "why can't I hit the ball yet" and "can I drive the card please" and Isabel was the oblivious golfer doing Cartwheels all over the course. (She's gotten VERY good at them.)
We only got 5 of 9 holes completed before dark (the first took 25 minutes) but I had we great time "enjoying the journey". Jay was an excellent teacher and I had some pretty nice shots for the first time golfing this year. We even saw a dead snake, a buck and a squirrel!

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Fathers

Today being Fathers Day I thought it would be a good day to write a few thoughts about the Fathers in my life...
-My Father in Heaven, the one who makes all things possible. Loves me no matter what and always knows what I should do.
-My Dad, the man who gives the best hugs, has a smile that emits warmth and who would do anything for me! I love you so much and couldn't ask for a better Father.
-My Kids Dad, my earthly voice of reason, my prince charming, my shoulder to cry on, my dog to kick (bad me!), my ear to talk off, my cheering section, the one who puts up with my bad moods & crazy ideas, the laundry master :), the best kisser, the soccer DAD my boys need, the fairly tail Dad my girls need, and the husband that I need & always dreamed of. Jay you are amazing.

Adoption Thoughts

I read an article on a High School Friends blog today and it made me think alot of adoption today. Having adopted the first 2 of my 4 children I understand the thoughts and feelings of the article. I've been an adoption advocate for 10 years now today I have come come up with this list of 10 things to do with my kids that have been in my head over the past decade. Those of you who know me well know that I am a religious person but usually I keep my religious feelings to myself in public. So to those of you who many not agree with my religious conclusions below I ask that you bear with me and find your own truth in my words.

1.Children are God’s first, not mine. He loves them more than I understand and is looking out for them in ways that I can’t always see.
2.My 1st job as a parent is to teach/give my children all the tools they need to know to return to their Heavenly Father.
3.Adoption does not change #1 or #2; our stewardship/accountability is the same.
4.Adoption, although a sacred trust, should not be a secret. Secrets can have negative cogitations and be associated with things that are bad or not to been seen by others. Talk with your children about adoption in a sacred way and make sure that children understand that it’s not a secret. (For a bit more clarification…I feel sacred things are discussed with appropriate people in appropriate settings and are not shouted from the roofs to any and all that might be in the general area.)
5.Children can never have too many people who love them. Don’t let pride or fear allow you to block others from showering love on your children.
6.As adoptive parents we provide the rules and discipline for our children, don’t allow relationships with biological parents & extended family to blur this responsibility.
7.We are a family unit and anyone who associates with our family unit needs to love all of my children without prejudice. Biology cannot be allowed to become wall separating those we choose to love. (In our personal circumstances with open adoption this is applied to Birth-parents & Birth-Grandparents and their association with all of our children as well)
8.I don’t always see the big picture, luckily God knows that. He only asks that I trust his eyes and walk by faith. If I listen and remove pride/fear from myself the Lord will help me make the best decisions possible even though some of them will be uncomfortable and not always make sense at the time.
9.Don’t get caught up in the fear that adopted children will love their biological Mother more than you. Remember that you didn’t adopt them so that they would love you…you adopted them because you wanted to shower them with love. There isn’t a love shortage; they can love both you and their biological family. Give them permission to do this. Let them give their love freely to whomever they choose, ironically giving them this freedom usually makes them shower you with more love by choice.
10.Listen to your children when they have questions about their adoption, don’t allow them to fear that they will hurt your feelings if they say they miss their biological parents / country. Express to them that loving their biological family is a good thing and that it doesn’t change the love you share with them. Make sure they (and you) believe that there isn’t a love shortage and there is plenty of love to go around.

I've gained a testimony that anybody who loves my children is a blessing in their lives. If I let them love my kids instead of creating barriers to stop them my kids will be better for that love. As long as they are a good influence in our family all are welcome to love my kids. Our family is better as a result of adoption. We love all of my kids’ birth-parents, birth-grandparents, and extended family. Open adoption, though super scary at first, has been such a blessing in our life.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DYLAN! - 10 YEARS OLD

Happy Birthday Dylan. We love you very much and are so happy that we can call you ours. You are so special. WE are not the only ones who know this...here is an email that we received this week about you from Sister White. She is in the Primary Pres. and her son Ben has severe Autism.

"Just wanted to let you know that I think that Dylan is such a sweetheart!
I was giving a sharing time recently & I introduced Ben to the children as part of the lesson & Dylan raised his hand and said "Ben is awesome!"
Then, at scouts last week, I brought Ben & Dylan was so kind to him....he helped Ben with the pledge of allegiance, cheered Ben on with the marble game & kept telling Ben what a good job he was doing. He also has a new greeting with Ben where they both raise their arm & say "Awesome!" & Benjamin smiles and loves it......what a great kid Dylan is & he has such a big heart!
Have a great day, Marcie "

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Alexa Quote - Is it time to wake up yet?

I feel really badly that Alexa is the one with all the quotes but....gezz...she is just so funny. All of the other kids say pretty normal things, but I'll have to start putting them here too. This was part of a conversation we had in her bed after we just finished her bedtime story.

Alexa: Mom, when is it going to be morning?
Amy: When you wake up.
Alexa: I'm awake now..... giggle....so it's morning! giggle.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Alexa Quote - Potty

Alexa was very upset because it was time to go to bed and she wanted to take a bath at night instead of in the morning. I picked her up and set her on the toilet after physically dressing her myself. She was VERY upset with me.

Amy: Did you finished going potty.
Alexa: No, I'm holding it. I"m not going potty because you won't let me take a bath!
Amy: But then you'll go potty in your bed tonight.
Alexa: No...... I'm going to wake up in the night and come in your room, then I'm going to go potty all over your bed and clothes. (with any of my other 3 children the sentence would end here...but this is Alexa.)
Here is the full sentence...
Alexa: I'm going to wake up in the night and come in your room, then I'm going to go potty all over your bed and clothes so you'll have to buy new clothes naked! (followed by satisfied little laugh)

SIGH.... she's always keeping us laughing.