adoption

I Couldn’t Resist

/ kensrobin / 3 Comments

One of my stops on my Busy Bag spree was actually Sears Appliance Outlet. Why would an appliance store sell crafting materials? They don’t. But they did have a banner outside announcing that they now sell apparel.  Well, I was curious.

When I stepped inside, there were dozens of racks of clothing, and nearly everything was $5 (except for coats and dresses). Some items were only $1. My “buy” price for clothing is typically $5 per piece (a dress counts as two pieces– SPLURGE), so I took a look around. What really caught my eye was the little girls’ section. They had some super cute clothes, and none were over $5.

I do have heights and weights for both of the kids, so I know approximately what size Rose wears. And if I bought at least 2 sizes too big, surely they’ll be home with us before they outgrow the clothes . . .

So I bought this for a grand $5. I think it’s pretty spectacular, especially from an Appliance Outlet!  Can you not see this glittery red velvet dress in next year’s church Christmas program?!

Then I came across this cute $5 shirt, with a fabric flower on the neckline. I only wish it was 10 sizes bigger! I also found some matching leggings for $3. The sweater was a remarkable Goodwill Outlet find, don’t you think? It’s a very nice heavy sweater in excellent condition, but weighs less than a pound, so I paid about $1 for it.

I know that we’re a ways off from bringing our children home, but it’s small things like this that remind me that they ARE coming! I couldn’t resist!

One Dollar Busy Bags

/ kensrobin / 7 Comments

I searched through my crafting stash, rummaged through the recycling bin, hit Goodwill Outlets, and searched the clearance bins at Michaels for Busy Bags goodies this weekend. My goal was to spend no more than $1 per Busy Bag, and I think I did great! Not all of the Busy Bags are completed, but here’s what I came up with:

Board Puzzles

 The first Busy Bag was from a box of board cards (like individual pages of board books) meant for infants. It was a sample that came in the mail, but I wasn’t sure what to do with it until now.

I cut up the different board cards to make puzzles. You can see the cut lines if you look closely at the picture. I put them all in the same Busy Bag, which makes putting them together pretty challenging! You could easily do the same thing with a board book that has been outgrown!

Cost to me: Free!

Felt Scenes

Michael’s had felt on sale this week 5/$1. I bought 5 different colors (for this and the next Busy Bag) and created felt scenes — one for summer, and one for winter (or Canadian fall). The shapes can be rearranged and put back together.

Cost: $1

Alphabet Snake

Using ribbon from my ribbon scraps, buttons from my button jar, leftover felt from the project above, and fabric paint from my craft stash, I made a button snake, but wanted to make it a little more interactive as the kids learn letters, and eventually words. I painted commonly used letters on the felt, rather than using the whole alphabet, so more words can be spelled.

Cost: Free!

I Spy Bottle

I emptied out a shampoo bottle this weekend, and it seemed like a good size to make an I Spy Busy Bag activity. I went to my button stash again, and found a fun selection of medical and academic buttons. I took a picture of all of the objects, so they will know what they are looking for. I put the buttons in the cleaned-out and dried bottle, added rice to within a 1/2 inch of the top of the bottle, and then used hot glue to glue it closed. A good shake of the bottle, and the items were hidden. They were fairly easy to find — at least some of them. But I imagine that finding all of them might take a while. (Yes!)

Cost: $1 for the rice

So for spending $2 out of pocket, and using some creativity, I came up with four Busy Bag activities. I’ve got some other Busy Bag projects in the works, which are even better, and I’m have a good time putting them together! It will be even better when there are some kids around to use them!

Buy Three Bags of Coffee, Get One Free

/ kensrobin / 1 Comment

Do you love coffee? Perhaps a little too much? I came across this pin on Pinterest last night.

Ha! I love it . . . and am slightly frightened by it! 😉

We are selling coffee through Just Love Coffee to raise money for our adoption travel expenses. If you love Fair Trade coffee and want to help support our adoption, this weekend’s special is a great deal. Buy three bags of YOUR choice, and they’ll give you one bag of THEIR choice for free! We have LOVED all of their coffees. In fact, when we accidentally ran out of Just Love Coffee in Gatlinburg, we bought some Fair Trade coffee at the grocery store and regretted it! It was terrible compared to Just Love Coffee’s freshly roasted blends.

Just purchase three bags at our store, and after checkout, they’ll add a fourth bag. The special is only available today and tomorrow!

The Missing Smiles

/ kensrobin / 3 Comments

Today, we received new pictures from our Congo Program Director of both kids. It’s the first picture that we’ve seen of Emmanuel since his intake photo, and only the second of Rose. No longer are their faces filled with strain and stress of being abandoned at an orphanage. Their feet are no longer bare, and their clothes are new and clean, instead of the ill-fitting and stained clothes they were wearing in the first pictures we had received from them.

Emmanuel is such a handsome boy. Rose’s cheeks are healthy and chubby, and her lips are plump and sweet. They are simply adorable.

But there is still something missing from their pictures: smiles. Rose’s eyes especially convey sadness. And why shouldn’t they? Those whom they loved and trusted most are gone, and they have been left in the care of an orphanage.

One of the things I look forward to most when we travel to the DRC is seeing the sad faces of these two precious children, soon to be our precious children, smile. To laugh. To blow bubbles. To jump rope and ride bikes. To color and play with sticker books. To eat an ice cream cone as it dribbles down their chin and hands. To enjoy some fun-filled Busy Bags. To get to just be kids. Who know they are loved. Who have no worries. Who smile.

We are still awaiting our court documents to come back to the United States. They have to be translated back into English so that we can correct them, so they can be translated back into French and be sent back to the court. Then we can begin the 30 day appeal period. It’s a minimum of 30 days, but could be much longer. It seems like after that, the process moves forward in many small but fairly quick steps.

Each step forward is a step closer to bringing smiles to two children who haven’t had the chance to smile enough.

My Latest Obsession: Busy Bags

/ kensrobin / 6 Comments

If you’ve not heard of them before, “busy bags” are gallon-size resealable bags that contain activities that can keep a preschooler busy while on-the-go (church, doctor’s offices, traveling) or during quiet times at home. As I think about boarding a plane for an inhumanely long flight with two preschoolers, who don’t know us, who don’t speak English, who probably have never seen a plane before, who have unknown language, mathematical, and fine motor skills, who will likely not understand that silly seatbelt light, I think: “Perhaps we need to have some fun activities on hand.”

The basics of busy bags are:

  • The contents must fit easily into a gallon-size resealable bag. The flatter, the better, in my opinion.
  • The activities should not be messy or contain many small parts that can’t be lost.
  • The activities must be relatively quiet.
  • The activities must be reusable.
  • The activities should cost around $1 or less.

Creativity and using what you have on hand is key. Sounds great to me!

There are hundreds of ideas for busy bags online, and I’ve been wading through great suggestions like:

shower curtain playmat

Playmats! Add in a matchbox car and some small plastic animals, and let the fun begin! Ken has already been given the task of creating a couple of these on the fabric from my never-ending fabric stash, or even an old bread cloth would work. Ken’s quite an artist, so I’m really looking forward to these!

lacing cards

Lacing cards. Some cardstock, or even a cereal box, some shoestring, and a hole punch: magic.

Felt board with shapes. Where can I get small amounts of felt for cheap, by the way?

I spy bags, which contain small objects hidden in the beads or rice that kids must find. This could also be done with a clear plastic bottle. Glued shut, of course.

The button snake. Cut holes in the center of felt squares, and slide the pieces over a button onto a ribbon.

Even better? A linky party with hundreds of ideas here!

As I’ve been sorting through tons of ideas, I’ve realized that it might be easier to create lots of the same type of bag, and then swap with others in a “Busy Bag Swap.” In fact, momblogiverse posts frequently of such swaps, so I know they work. For instance, 15 people create 15 bags each, and then everyone swaps so that each participant ends up with 15 different types of Busy Bags.

Would anyone be interested in Busy Bag Swapping with a group of people, including me? Or, if I were to use my crafting time over the next few weeks to create massive numbers of these, would anyone be interested in purchasing sets of 15 different Busy Bags? Do you have any Busy Bag ideas that you love?

Quick Update

/ kensrobin / 2 Comments

Today, we received notification from the State Department that they are forwarding our case to the DRC, where we will be having our adoption interview in a few months. This was another step that I thought would come later, but it’s nice that our paperwork from the U.S. is already headed to the embassy. It’s even nicer that we don’t have to send it!

We’re still awaiting our court documents to be received and translated, so that we can correct any errors and send them back. Then there will be a 30 day appeal period, and then things should begin to move again. I think.

When the Blog, Blog, Bloggin’ Comes Hop, Hop, Hoppin’ Along

/ kensrobin / 1 Comment

Adopting can be a lonely journey, especially if you don’t know anyone else who is going through the process. Fortunately, our church has several families who have adopted previously, and I’ve been able to find other blogs and discussion boards of families adopting, including from the DRC. It helps to know what’s ahead of us, and encourage and help others who are behind us.

So today, I’m participating in a Blog Hop. Several bloggers have linked up here to make our blogs known to other adoption bloggers.

If you’re here from the Blog Hop, welcome! We’re in the process of adopting two siblings from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and have just come out of court. But our journey started with attempting to adopt through foster care, and from a “birth mother” who found us through our church. There have been highlights along the way as well, as we’ve experienced the miracle of God’s financial provision in our adoption.

But of course, while we wait, life continues on, so I blog a little about our adventures, crafts, cooking, and lessons God is teaching us along the way! Categories of topics are broken down on the right, if one topic interests you more than another. Regardless, I’m glad you’re here!

And if you’re considering adoption, support adoption, or want to pray for families who are pursuing adoption, hop on over to the blog hop!

So, Where Does This Leave Us?

/ kensrobin / Leave a comment

We really don’t have a clear answer.

Now that we’re out of court, it seems like we’re now past what we had anticipated would be the longest wait in the process. It seemed like we just fast-forwarded the process by several months, but with the elections coming up next month, there is still the US Embassy warning that adoption travels will be delayed. Or not. Reading the online discussion boards of those adopting through our agency from the DRC, it seems like unexpected delays are the rule, rather than the exception. But we just experienced an acceleration of the timeline.

When will we travel? January? March? Next summer? Later?

Those who are seasoned in international adoption warn not to get caught up in projected timelines because the only thing we can be sure of is that things will not go as planned, especially in a country that is new to international adoption. Planning, predicting, stressing about timelines expends unnecessary energy, and can lead to unnecessary frustration.

And unnecessary worry.

And I refuse to worry. God’s call is clear. The timeline was established long before we even began considering adoption.

So, we’ll continue to file paperwork when we need to, answer requests for information, and consider items needed for travel. But we’ll leave the rest to God.

“Resting in the Lord is not dependent on your external circumstances at all,

but on your relationship with God Himself.” — Oswald Chambers

Shhhhhhhh

/ kensrobin / 7 Comments

I wrote this original post on October 11, setting it to autopost on the 13th. Even in the brief time in between, our story has quickly changed, but I thought the original post still had merit. The update follows:

——————————————————

Our dossier is now being forwarded to the Democratic Republic of Congo for translation and court approval. We now won’t hear anything about our case until it comes out of court. The cases that are just coming out of court now were submitted in April. Nearly six months of silence. Our case could take as little as one month, or as many as six or more. All we can do is wait.

In silence.

Sometimes silence is enjoyable. Sometimes it is frustrating. Sometimes it is absolutely painful.

I tend to think of spriritual silence as being the latter two. To want to hear something from God, anything from God, but to only be met with silence is difficult. I wonder: Have I done something wrong? Is God punishing me? How can I get the lines of communication open again?

I read these words from My Utmost for His Highest today:

“When you cannot hear God, you will find that He has trusted you in the most intimate way possible— with absolute silence, not a silence of despair, but one of pleasure, because He saw that you could withstand an even bigger revelation. If God has given you a silence, then praise Him— He is bringing you into the mainstream of His purposes. A wonderful thing about God’s silence is that His stillness is contagious— it gets into you, causing you to become perfectly confident so that you can honestly say, ‘I know that God has heard me.’ His silence is the very proof that He has.”

These words reminded me that spiritual silence is a blessing. I don’t have to be frustrated or hurt. God has heard me, and His silence implies trust, not punishment.

Lamentations 3: 25-32, NIV

 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
   to the one who seeks him; 
it is good to wait quietly
   for the salvation of the LORD.
It is good for a man to bear the yoke
   while he is young.

 Let him sit alone in silence,
   for the LORD has laid it on him.
Let him bury his face in the dust—
   there may yet be hope.
Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him,
   and let him be filled with disgrace.

For no one is cast off
   by the Lord forever.
Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,
   so great is his unfailing love.

 

Welcome silence. Feel free to stay a while. Indeed, God has heard me, and His love is unfailing.

Shhhhhhhhh.

___________________________________________________

Update: At the time of the writing above, I wasn’t even sure if our mountain of paperwork had made it to the Democratic Republic of Congo, and our social worker emailed me this afternoon to let me know that not only had it made it, but it was already translated into French, processed in court, put before a judge, and today he approved it! We passed court!

The wait that I mentioned above that might take six months took just DAYS! The judge is new, and very pro-adoption. It was taking him a while to learn the process, but now that he has, he is processing cases in RECORD time. Four families, including ours, passed court today.  I can hardly believe it!

Our hearts are pounding, our heads are spinning, and our hands are lifted in praise to the God who cares deeply for the fatherless!

Beyond First Aid: What every travel medical kit should have

/ kensrobin / 2 Comments

As you may have noticed from Ken’s post, I attended a week-long conference last week. I’m required to do 50 hours of Continuing Medical Education every year, and a conference is a good way to get through a good bit of it in one sitting (or five, as the case may be).

My favorite lecture by far was the Wilderness Medicine lecture. At first glance, the topic didn’t seem all that applicable to me, but I am definitely glad I stayed, and took notes. Plus, the lecturer’s name was Dr. Donner, and who wouldn’t want to learn about wilderness survival from someone with that name?

The physician had led trips down the Grand Canyon, through wilderness in Africa, and even to the Himalayas. He served on the NASA advisory panel to determine medical supplies needed on the Space Station. His stories were fascinating. His advice was even better.

As I sat there listening, I realized that I was getting a great list of medical supplies to take with us when we go to Africa ourselves. Sure, we won’t be climbing a mountain, or white water rafting down a gorge, but we will be exposed to unfamiliar elements without access to Western medicine . . . unless we bring it ourselves.

Of course, much of what he talked about was prescription medications, but I thought some of his recommendations for over-the-counter products were pretty ingenious.

So here’s a list of over-the-counter medical supplies you might consider taking in a medical kit if you’re traveling to a place where medical care isn’t readily accessible, and space is an issue (international travel, hiking, camping, etc.) in addition to a regular first-aid kit.

  • Aleve. Pain reliever is important, but to reduce the number of pills you have to pack, take this 12-hour pain reliever instead of Tylenol or Advil, which is dosed more frequently.
  • DON’T take capsules of any kind. Just a touch of moisture and you’ve got a druggy icky mess.
  • Afrin. Nosebleeds are common when traveling. If it’s a minor nosebleed, sit down, gently blow your nose to clear clots, and then sniff some Afrin nasal spray. It reduces blood supply, and stops the bleeding. If it doesn’t work, hold pressure for 20 minutes without peeking.
  • Cough drops. And albuterol. Okay, so albuterol is a prescription, but if anyone has EVER used albuterol, it’s good for them to bring along. One or two puffs are great for coughs induced by exercise or infection.
  • No-Doz. If it’s not you, it’s going to be someone else on your trip. Someone will be a caffeine addict and get a raging headache on morning #2. You will be their best friend if you can give them one of these with a couple of Aleve. They may even need to carry your pack for a while in exchange.
  • Heartburn medication. My personal preference is a PPI like omeprazole, and some Tums. One works slow and long, the other fast and short.
  • Miralax packets. Many people develop “shy toilet syndrome” and can’t have a bowel movement in unfamiliar places. While this may not be a problem if you’re travelling for 2 days, if you’re travelling for 2 weeks, it’s an enormous problem.
  • Oral rehydration salt packets. These basically make a Gatorade-like solution if water is added. Very important for someone who is vomiting or has the opposite problem than the last point.
  • Duct tape. Aside from its utilitarian functions on the campsite, it’s great at reducing friction for known hot spots on heels and toes, in order to prevent blisters.
  • An emergency blanket. This can double as sunglasses in case of eye irritation.
  • Baby wipes. You can probably use your imagination.

The rest of the items covered were prescriptions, which was very helpful, or were items that everyone should bring (like sunscreen).  It’s a great list for lots of different but common travel health problems.

 What items have come in handy when you’ve been traveling?