Spring Break - Part 2

Wednesday

Today we started out the day with green french toast and milk for St. Pat's Day. We stayed in our pj's for most of the day and then headed to the mall to watch a movie (Spy Next Door) and then ate out. When we got home we had a family game night, staying up until about 11pm!

Thursday

Today the girls and I went and ate our favorite lunch - chinese and then played at a local park since it was beautiful out. This evening we all played out in the front yard. Before we left for lunch Lexy got all dressed up, purse and all and asked Brooke to straighten her hair...oh NO not a mini Brooke :)

Friday

Today we spent the day at home and then this evening we went bowling with Robin and Sean and kiddos (Kenzie, Molly, Ryan) and then we all went to Pizza Street for dinner.

On our way home from bowling on Friday night we stopped off at the store to stock up on "keep us warm" foods b/c the weather man was calling for snow all weekend. Sure enough it snowed all day on Saturday and we got several inches of the white stuff. So we snuggled in and stayed in our pj's, snacked, took naps, had chili and cake and watched movies. By Sunday it was better out so we decided we better prepare to get back to "real life" so we cleaned and grocery shopped :(

This morning Lexy was up by about 5:30am, too excited to be heading back to school...Brooke on the other hand was not all that excited to be getting up when it was still dark :)

Busy Busy

This week has been full...

Brooke has had to stay after school until 5pm each night to teach the cheer & dance to the 6th & 7th graders that are trying out for cheerleading tonight! She was so nervous for them this morning!

Two soccer practices for Lexy. I haven't gotten even one picture yet because I somehow got nominated to be the assistant coach...I know NOTHING about soccer!!! Lexy coach is so sweet, she brought cupcakes to practice last night to celebrate Lexy's b-day.

A trip up to the movies with school for Brooke.

A school dance for Brooke.

I gathered pictures and made the picture book that our adoption worker wants from us. I'm putting it in the mail to her today!

I made a few hair accessories for the girls, I'll post pictures later.

Lexy's picture day yesterday. I was asked to help with this so I spent the day at Lexy's school corralling preschool and kindergarten kids, cleaning faces, combing hair, making sure they held on to their little "picture papers" and protecting the picture set from bouncing, jumping, kicking, goofing around kids :-) Lexy loved that I was there all day and was excited that I got to eat lunch with her.

Today is Brooke's picture day...she wouldn't let me help at her school :-(

Tonight Brooke has a sleepover b-day party to go to and tomorrow Lexy has a skating b-day party to go to.

WHEW I'm wore out!!!

Starfish

I've been questioned several times recently about why we are choosing to adopt again versus trying to conceive another biological child. I came across this poem today and thought it tells perfectly why we feel led to adoption...

THE STARFISH POEM

Once upon a time there was a wise man

who used to go to the ocean

to do his writing.

He had a habit of walking

on the beach before he began his work.

One day he was walking along the shore.

As he looked down the beach,

he saw a human figure moving like a dancer.

He smiled to himself to think

of someone who would dance to the day.

So he began to walk faster to catch up.

As he got closer, he saw that it was a young man

and the young man wasn't dancing,

but instead he was reaching

down to the shore, picking up something

and very gently throwing it

into the ocean.

As he got closer he called out,

"Good morning! What are you doing?"

The young man paused, looked up and replied,

"Throwing starfish in the ocean."

"I guess I should have asked,

why are you throwing starfish in the ocean?"

"The sun is up and the tide is going out.

And if I don't throw them in they'll die."

"But, young man, don't you realize that

there are miles and miles of beach

and starfish all along it.

You can't possibly make a difference!"

The young man listened politely.

Then bent down, picked up another starfish

and threw it into the sea,

past the breaking waves and said-

"It made a difference for that one."

author unknown

We want to be the ones to make a difference to another child or children. There are so many children in this world in need of a warm bed, a loving home and a compassionate family...why would we NOT choose adoption?

Twos-Day

My most favorite Two-Some in the whole world! Even when I am in a bad mood and ground them because they are not doing as they are told and not getting ready for school in the morning!

I'm joining Debi over at Who Says 8 is Enough for Twos-Day this week.

SIX

Happy 6th Birthday Lexy!!!

Dear Lexy,

On your sixth birthday I want to tell you just how much I love you!

I love...

your laugh
your smile
your independence
your squeezin' huggin' lovin's
your beauty inside and out
your intelligence
your positive attitude
your love for all animals
your way of saying "Mommy I need you"
your jokes
your ability to make friends easily
your compassion
your love of back rubs when you can't sleep
and your love of only "mommy's spaghetti" (which I'll be making for you tonight!)

I love you all the way to the pluto and back and another half and not just the short cut the long way!!!! I'm SO lucky to have you as my daughter!

Love,
Mommy

Our Weekend

We had a fun filled weekend! On Saturday Brooke and her friend Kenzie and Taryn helped me set up for Lexy's 6th Birthday party in the morning by decorating and making a dog house from a box. Then from 1pm-3pm we got to entertain TEN 5-7 year olds (plus Papa & Grammy and Mammaw and Grandpa)!!! Lexy decided she wanted a doggy party so I made ears and collars for everyone and the older girls painted noses and then we played lots of doggy games like feed the dog (bones into buckets), dog trainer says, doggy obstacle course (one of the stops was to pee on a fake tree :-) and doggy doggy where's your bone. We had a picture cake made with a picture of Lexy and her dog Rex and then a friend at the bakery also made Lexy a little begging doggy cake of her own, thank you Roxanne! The party was a complete success and Lexy came home with lots of fun gifts! After the party we went out to eat with Papa & Grammy for chinese (Lexy's choice).

On Sunday it was a beautiful day so after we finished up cleaning around the house, I took Lexy outside to ride on her new scooter and play soccer and Mike took Brooke for her very first driving lesson...I can't believe she's old enough for that!!!

Dear Birth Mom

I've had adoption on my mind a lot lately. One of the things that I think about is that the next child(ren) that join our family may (or may not) have a different "story" of their time before they came to us. In Lexy's case it makes me sad that we don't have a sweet "she loved you so much that she wanted you to have a better life" story to tell her. It makes it more difficult to discuss adoption when the story is not all rainbows and unicorns. I want to try to spare feelings but not sugar-coat so much that Lexy one day thinks that we "took" her from a wonderful fabulous person and situation...because that's not the truth.

It's taken me a long time to come to terms with the emotions and events that surrounded the first few years of Lexy's life. With Lexy's 6th birthday coming up next week, I'd like to take the opportunity to write a therapeutic letter to her birth mom...

Dear Birth Mom,

Thank you for the MOST precious gift that I have ever received from another person. Without you I wouldn't have my smart, beautiful and funny daughter...you will always hold a special place in my heart because of that.

I have been blessed with cuddling, kissing, healing hurts, having that special bond and watching Lexy grow from a tiny four month old to a wonderful almost six year old. I truly appreciate that you chose to give birth and raise Lexy for those first four months until she came to us. I'm thankful for the knowledge that you loved Lexy as best you could at the time.

Your life circumstances and choices make it impossible for you to parent a child and I'm glad that you came to that realization when you chose not to appeal the court's decision to terminate your rights and allow us to adopt Lexy. I only wish you could have seen the pain you were causing sooner.

As I told you at our good bye visit, Lexy will know about you in an age appropriate manner. We will never hide the fact that she was adopted or that you exist. She will know the truth and will be able to form her own opinions. We will be here to help her understand and answer any questions that she may have.

Sincerely, MyLinda