It has been so long since I have blogged. Catching up on photo blogs has sort of floated from one "to-do" list to another. It just hasn't happened, yet. I wanted to give a general update post and then bounce back into photo blogs. I recognize that it is currently July and the photos are spanning three months and will probably take about 15 to 20 posts to get up there. We will see how long it takes. Check back often because there will be something new each day! Whew! How's that for built in accountability.
I wanted to make this post a bit newsy filling everyone in on our lives the past couple of months. I guess you could consider it a Christmas in July style Christmas letter. We have not done a Christmas letter in 6 of 7 years so we are a bit overdue!
M graduated from Kindergarten in June. He did so well at school this year and has become a great reader and creative writer. He has had a very busy summer. He had a week of Vacation Bible School, and is now in the middle of 5 weeks of summer school. Summer School here is incredible. The kids get to choose fun classes 5 days a week from 8:00-12:30. The 5 weeks is divided into two sessions. He took Nature Science, Spanish, The me I'm learning to be, and Sports Clinic last session and is taking Fun in the Sun, Spanish (it runs all five weeks), Yoga, and Disney Favorites this session. He is loving the classes, the others kids and his teachers. In the afternoons M goes to a playground program. I admit I was a bit skeptical at first, but the program is incredible. The children do gym class type games from 12:30-5:00 five days a week. He has SO MUCH fun with the park friends. They also go to the pool, have water fights with other parks, and today they are going rollerskating. Two evenings a week M has coach pitch Baseball! He continues to throw hard and accurately and is learning how to hit with power from a manual pitching machine. We are also plugging through 100 books again this summer for the summer reading program at the library. The promises of a free book and a pool party are motivating, but honestly, he loves to read and be read to. Every other week we head down to our beloved therapist Dr. S. She is 42 minutes away without traffic, but there is always traffic. If you ask M, she is worth it! Are you tired reading this? He sure is tired living it, but he is enjoying all the activities and the people and seeing friends wherever we go.
T has a more relaxing summer than M, but by some definitions, much more busy... because she is quite the girl on the go! T enjoyed VBS this year too, though said it was too long! She is still singing all the songs and waving to the kids from her crew, so I would say she is being a bit dramatic! T also gets to do some summer school. She goes just three days a week for 2.5 hours. We know she has fun at school, but in true T fashion, she protests each time we tell her it is a school day. T is taking gymnastics this summer. She just goes one evening a week. She loves bouncing around and trying out the beam and the uneven bars. T and I enjoy a lot of time together when M is at school and playground. We have lots of playdates with friends. We are always working to learn and relearn our lessons on sharing. Once a week throughout the whole summer we meet with a large group of moms for playgroup at a local park. T loves the picnic and the fun with friends. M joins us for a quick lunch after school and before playground. T loves to read books for the summer reading program too. I love our sweet cuddles on the couch as we read. She continues to enjoy putting on many princess dresses each day. She loves to put on concerts and sing and dance. She can belt it out pretty well. She continually makes up new songs. She is going 180 mph every moment she is awake. She loves sidewalk chalk and bubbles, and biking and swinging. She is no longer passionate about weed pulling like she once was, bummer. She is still napping most days. We are reminded on the days we skip naps that she still NEEDS them. This fall she will be going to school four afternoons a week so we told her she will be a part time napper in the fall. She is thrilled about that. T is now joining us for the church services on Sunday. I was nervous at first, but in general she does very well. She loves to collect things and we affectionally call her our little hoarder. You never know what she might need to take along to a park.
I have had a full summer as well. I help organize a large adoption event in late June each year. It becomes all consuming for quite some time. It is such a joy to be a part of the planning and a part of the evening with adoptive families. As I get older and life gets crazier, I admit it is also a relief when the event is complete and the chaos is behind us for another year. The kids struggle with mommy "working" even if it is just for one night. I have been enjoying many evening walks with friends. One of my best friends and I decided to walk on every street in our community again this summer. We did this when our kiddos were little and we are excited to do it again. M and T are so tired that they typically go to bed around 7:00. This allows for some great walk time after the kids are in bed. This summer I joined a book club going through the book, "A Place I Didn't Belong." It is so good to find comfort and joy in the conversations with other adoptive moms from church! I highly recommend this to all of my adoptive mom friends! I am really enjoying the mom time I get during playdates and playgroups and our Friday night potlucks. Of course, this time is constantly interrupted with requests large and small. In May I got back onto Facebook which I have found once again to be a blessing and a curse, but more on that later. The kids and drove to MN without Brandon the day after school ended. It was quite an adventure. I am still gathering photos from my time in MN, but I will say more about it when I get caught up that far in the blog. I have really been enjoying my quiet time when both kids are at school. I actually washed all my windows which is a big deal if you know me. It is the task that keeps getting bumped off the list. Most windows are now filled with fingerprints again, but I know that the sides that face out are clean and that feels good! Mainly I am just pushing loads through the laundry, hanging up wet towels, making meals, and trying to keep us alive and healthy!
Brandon is doing well and continuing to enjoy working at church. He is doing a series right now on Esther. We are all learning much through the series. Brandon is now cycling six days a week and even brought the bike with us to Missouri when we went down their for the 4th of July. That blog post will take a while to get up I am sure! Brandon is an incredible help with the kids each evening. He does double duty for sure. He takes T to gymnastics when M has therapy. He also takes both kids to baseball. Keeping T focused during that time is hard, but Brandon is a pro. He also is the master griller, garden tender, and fixer of broken things big and small. Currently he is heading to Home Depot to gather many things, but some include materials to construct a coat tree of sorts of kids costumes. They are everywhere and we need a system! I am so thankful for his partnership each day in many ways.
The events of the recent weeks have rocked my world. So much brokeness. So much pain. So much loss. I have decided once again to step off of Facebook, but this time just for a couple of weeks. I will still be checking email, but honestly I need to disengage. Facebook sucks all my time, because my incredible friends post so many articles that I find myself needing to read. Many are helpful, but then my time has slipped away. I am hoping to get my blog, house, and routine in order in the next couple of weeks and step back into FB with some better boundaries. I am not sure how it will look yet, but I think the kids "time timer" might be a helpful place to start. Putting limits on my activity will allow me to respond to PM's but not get sucked in to articles, debates and memes.
There is so much I would love to say about the events of the last week, but I find myself at a loss. So much has been said. I want to instead share a link that will be helpful for my many white mama friends raising little boys who will one day be black men. This post is insightful and beckons us to become a part of a community where we can prepare our sons well. It also honors trauma and impulses and how they can play into our future fears and our kiddos future realities. Please check out the Coffee Colored Sofa post HERE.
I look forward to blogging each day during this break. Please keep me accountable of this! I want to catch up and I have so many precious moments to share. It has been a joy to fill you all in on the blessings of our busy summer. Some might shake their heads and say, "too much, too busy..." but I disagree. While my plan A in parenting might have been limited activity and extended family time, my reality looks a little different. I know that keeping my kids busy in activities with lots of movement and structure leads to happier kids. I know that giving my kids opportunities to separate from each other (and me) makes them more tolerable of time together. I am thankful for the team of therapists and authors and friends who have helped me to restructure my goals and create an atmosphere where my kids are set up the heal and to prayerfully thrive! We treasure your prayers and we continue this healing journey.
Keep tuning in... a lot of sweet pictures starting tomorrow!!
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