Saturday, September 30, 2006
It's not too early to think about Christmas and this year consider making a donation to my favorite charity. World Vision.
Here is a link to their annual Gift Catalog.
http://donate.wvus.org/OA_HTML/xxwvibeCCtpSctDspRte.jsp?section=10024
Do it as a family, or give a gift in honor of someone else. One of my favorite gifts this year is a new model of wheelchair that is much more affordable than institutional models. It only costs 14 dollars and uses a plastic chair with bicycle wheels. This kind of chair can revolutionize the life of a child who is unable to walk. Often disabled children in third world countries are forced to crawl, be carried, or if they are lucky be pushed in a wheelbarrow, so a wheelchair (even one as unique as this) can be life changing.
The big ticket items this year are neat too. For example, you can buy a Mongolian ger for a family, or you can buy a gift of the month on behalf of someone. If you select gift of the month, they will send a card every month to your grandma or whomever you select what gift was given in their honor.
Anyway, we have so much, and so many people have so little. Check out the World Vision sight. I have supported them for over13 years, and they are an amazing organization. They also provide monthly sponsorship opportunities. They give one of the highest percentages of any charity to projects and use little of it for overhead costs. In addition they are very diplomatic and have learned to work well with host countries.
Check it out!
Here is a link to their annual Gift Catalog.
http://donate.wvus.org/OA_HTML/xxwvibeCCtpSctDspRte.jsp?section=10024
Do it as a family, or give a gift in honor of someone else. One of my favorite gifts this year is a new model of wheelchair that is much more affordable than institutional models. It only costs 14 dollars and uses a plastic chair with bicycle wheels. This kind of chair can revolutionize the life of a child who is unable to walk. Often disabled children in third world countries are forced to crawl, be carried, or if they are lucky be pushed in a wheelbarrow, so a wheelchair (even one as unique as this) can be life changing.
The big ticket items this year are neat too. For example, you can buy a Mongolian ger for a family, or you can buy a gift of the month on behalf of someone. If you select gift of the month, they will send a card every month to your grandma or whomever you select what gift was given in their honor.
Anyway, we have so much, and so many people have so little. Check out the World Vision sight. I have supported them for over13 years, and they are an amazing organization. They also provide monthly sponsorship opportunities. They give one of the highest percentages of any charity to projects and use little of it for overhead costs. In addition they are very diplomatic and have learned to work well with host countries.
Check it out!
Monday, September 25, 2006
I just completely freaked myself out by reading old blog posts. Do me a favor and DON'T go back and read them! I wrote some seriously disturbed stuff, but I am standing by it and not deleting it. Who knows... maybe it will encourage other moms to know that others have gone through periods of near insanity and have lived to tell the tale and even laugh about it!
I think I was seriously on the edge of losing it there for awhile right after we became Andy's foster parents. It had nothing to do with Andy and it had everything to do with having another kid. At the time, I was still figuring out how parenting a child with significant disabilities was going to work and then getting a second child was just really a challenge. The biggest challenge was that Noah hated the sound of children for a really long time, and while NOW we are convince that having a second child was the best thing for Noah in addition to the rest of us... it was REALLY REALLY stressful. Really stressful. I remember when Noah would toddle out of the room every single time we carried Andy into the room. He would scream in the car if Andy made so much as a little peep. And Andy isn't exactly a peeper. He's more of a, "HEY WORLD, I AM HERE... WATCH ME DO TRICKS," kind of kid.
And now, I think to myself, in not too much time we are going to have three. I know many, many other people have had many, many children, but as I Scott and I say, half jokingly, "Have you met my kids lately?" Just kidding really. My kids are the neatest kids anyone could ever have. They ARE high energy and I am attempting to homeschool them now for the second year. And I am sure that our third child will be the sweetest child ever. I dream of a child that just loves to sit and daydream. Perhaps he or she will enjoy cleaning or doing laundry. Ha!
No, I am sure that based on the kind of people the four of us are, this child will also be incredibly curious, infinitely imaginative, extremely stubborn, and possessing a great sense of humor.
Pretty soon I will be packing up all the marbles, magnets, and other chokables... throwing away ALL cleaners that aren't made with non toxic substances, putting locks on doors... Cause I am positive that we will need ALL of these interventions. Have you met my kids lately?
They are the ones who when doing art stamp their nipples. "Look mommy, I stamped my nipple with an hieroglyph." or lick the paint, "Look mommy, Noah's eating the paint/glue/playdough, etc."
Or when less than one year old, learn how to escape from the house and are literally rescued by a pair of nuns. (one in full habit... seriously)
They are the kids whose favorite game outside is to play with the recycling, charcoal briquets, twine, and gardening implements instead of the five ride on toys, swingset and playhouse.
They are the kids who stash bags of peanuts under their beds or who tear apart every board book.
They are the kids who when picking beautiful flowers for mommy they pull the entire shrub for my vase.
They are the kind of kids who really, really like to snuggle.
Instead of building with blocks, they scatter them about... pretending what I am not sure... maybe pirate treasure.
They never run out of new, exciting places to make number 1 or number 2. You have to admire the creativity.
They also prefer to draw on walls instead of paper. Better texture I think. Also more audience response than to boring old paper.
Anyway, I am congratulating myself for not being crazy (any more).
And please pray that number three will only contribute to this upward progression!
I think I was seriously on the edge of losing it there for awhile right after we became Andy's foster parents. It had nothing to do with Andy and it had everything to do with having another kid. At the time, I was still figuring out how parenting a child with significant disabilities was going to work and then getting a second child was just really a challenge. The biggest challenge was that Noah hated the sound of children for a really long time, and while NOW we are convince that having a second child was the best thing for Noah in addition to the rest of us... it was REALLY REALLY stressful. Really stressful. I remember when Noah would toddle out of the room every single time we carried Andy into the room. He would scream in the car if Andy made so much as a little peep. And Andy isn't exactly a peeper. He's more of a, "HEY WORLD, I AM HERE... WATCH ME DO TRICKS," kind of kid.
And now, I think to myself, in not too much time we are going to have three. I know many, many other people have had many, many children, but as I Scott and I say, half jokingly, "Have you met my kids lately?" Just kidding really. My kids are the neatest kids anyone could ever have. They ARE high energy and I am attempting to homeschool them now for the second year. And I am sure that our third child will be the sweetest child ever. I dream of a child that just loves to sit and daydream. Perhaps he or she will enjoy cleaning or doing laundry. Ha!
No, I am sure that based on the kind of people the four of us are, this child will also be incredibly curious, infinitely imaginative, extremely stubborn, and possessing a great sense of humor.
Pretty soon I will be packing up all the marbles, magnets, and other chokables... throwing away ALL cleaners that aren't made with non toxic substances, putting locks on doors... Cause I am positive that we will need ALL of these interventions. Have you met my kids lately?
They are the ones who when doing art stamp their nipples. "Look mommy, I stamped my nipple with an hieroglyph." or lick the paint, "Look mommy, Noah's eating the paint/glue/playdough, etc."
Or when less than one year old, learn how to escape from the house and are literally rescued by a pair of nuns. (one in full habit... seriously)
They are the kids whose favorite game outside is to play with the recycling, charcoal briquets, twine, and gardening implements instead of the five ride on toys, swingset and playhouse.
They are the kids who stash bags of peanuts under their beds or who tear apart every board book.
They are the kids who when picking beautiful flowers for mommy they pull the entire shrub for my vase.
They are the kind of kids who really, really like to snuggle.
Instead of building with blocks, they scatter them about... pretending what I am not sure... maybe pirate treasure.
They never run out of new, exciting places to make number 1 or number 2. You have to admire the creativity.
They also prefer to draw on walls instead of paper. Better texture I think. Also more audience response than to boring old paper.
Anyway, I am congratulating myself for not being crazy (any more).
And please pray that number three will only contribute to this upward progression!
Sunday, September 03, 2006
I am really excited! Yesterday we took a road trip to IKEA to get some new furniture for Noah's little work room. Considering that every other trip we have ever taken to IKEA has ended with disappointment for one reason or another, I was pleasantly surprised when the day went off with barely a hitch.
1. We were able to get everything (or pretty close to it) that we needed for Noah.
2. Andy was really good in the playland (2 times for 2 hours!)
3. We were able to eat together in a somewhat relaxed manner.
4. We talked, laughed, and generally had a good time.
5. After a brief tantrum... Noah was happy... we were there for 5 hours! I call that success!
I felt like Pa was taken us Ingalls to town so we could get our supplies to make it through the winter. It was fun. And even though IKEA may make some cheap stuff--- for the most part the things we bought weren't any cheaper than the stuff we paid a fortune for from our local furniture store... Next time... I am buying IKEA. At least until I am rich, or my kids quit destroying things.
Oh and Scott and I memorized the Nicene Creed on the way to Minneapolis. Yay!
1. We were able to get everything (or pretty close to it) that we needed for Noah.
2. Andy was really good in the playland (2 times for 2 hours!)
3. We were able to eat together in a somewhat relaxed manner.
4. We talked, laughed, and generally had a good time.
5. After a brief tantrum... Noah was happy... we were there for 5 hours! I call that success!
I felt like Pa was taken us Ingalls to town so we could get our supplies to make it through the winter. It was fun. And even though IKEA may make some cheap stuff--- for the most part the things we bought weren't any cheaper than the stuff we paid a fortune for from our local furniture store... Next time... I am buying IKEA. At least until I am rich, or my kids quit destroying things.
Oh and Scott and I memorized the Nicene Creed on the way to Minneapolis. Yay!
Saturday, September 02, 2006
So, the challenges will be this school year:
1. Survive pregnancy-- have a healthy baby (even if the baby has a genetic disorder... he/she can still be healthy).
2. Homeschool Noah: continue improvement in eating, talking, and pottying!
3. Teach Andy how to read.
4. Retain that happy, bohemian quality that makes me- "Me."
So how am I going to rise up to these challenges?
1. Crackers, crackers, and more crackers! Prayer. Make two solid birth plans with : the best pediatric surgeons, get Noah's genetic testing done again, be prepared, get medical journal articles, get NICU on board, get all of our old medical records.
2. Organize, work my buns off-- happily of course, have lots of help, blog in my homeschool journal, face it head on.
3. Use Learn to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.
4. Buy that Lush soap I have been wanting to by, go to church--- even if I'm "askeered" of bringing two hyper children into normal human interactions, read books about travel-- just to remind me that in the midst of the mushy brain fog that is pregnancy and new baby time... Paris is still there... as is Rome. Buy some fun maternity clothes. Call my friends! ( I am so bad at this) Watch something or read something comedic. Keep working on my New Year's resolutions. This year is the best I have ever done! Wooo hoooo! Except maybe that one year I wanted to finish reading the Bible... so I read from I think Romans or or maybe Hebrews or something to the end of Revelation on December 31. Memorize the Trisagion prayer and the creed. And maybe just maybe, I could memorize the creed in Greek so I could say it with the Greek people too. That would be so cool. Somehow, keep the house orderly... this has really been a lot harder since I haven't been feeling well, but I know that it is possible, good, and healthy for us all mentally, so it must be done!
This is life! So live it!
1. Survive pregnancy-- have a healthy baby (even if the baby has a genetic disorder... he/she can still be healthy).
2. Homeschool Noah: continue improvement in eating, talking, and pottying!
3. Teach Andy how to read.
4. Retain that happy, bohemian quality that makes me- "Me."
So how am I going to rise up to these challenges?
1. Crackers, crackers, and more crackers! Prayer. Make two solid birth plans with : the best pediatric surgeons, get Noah's genetic testing done again, be prepared, get medical journal articles, get NICU on board, get all of our old medical records.
2. Organize, work my buns off-- happily of course, have lots of help, blog in my homeschool journal, face it head on.
3. Use Learn to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.
4. Buy that Lush soap I have been wanting to by, go to church--- even if I'm "askeered" of bringing two hyper children into normal human interactions, read books about travel-- just to remind me that in the midst of the mushy brain fog that is pregnancy and new baby time... Paris is still there... as is Rome. Buy some fun maternity clothes. Call my friends! ( I am so bad at this) Watch something or read something comedic. Keep working on my New Year's resolutions. This year is the best I have ever done! Wooo hoooo! Except maybe that one year I wanted to finish reading the Bible... so I read from I think Romans or or maybe Hebrews or something to the end of Revelation on December 31. Memorize the Trisagion prayer and the creed. And maybe just maybe, I could memorize the creed in Greek so I could say it with the Greek people too. That would be so cool. Somehow, keep the house orderly... this has really been a lot harder since I haven't been feeling well, but I know that it is possible, good, and healthy for us all mentally, so it must be done!
This is life! So live it!
