Sunday, October 18, 2009

Random thoughts--pictures of kiddos

I'm sorry to be so behind. I'm having a hard time feeling like I'm doing anything interesting enough to blog about. I am so, so, so passionate about adoption and orphans and very 'into' the workshop I'm getting the opportunity to facilitate to help commemorate Orphan Sunday. I've been working very earnestly on this labor of love but it doesn't seem that exciting to blog about how many letters and posters and photocopies and folders and fliers I've written or hung up or racked up or stuffed or collected. Besides practically everyone that subscribes to this blog is already 'into' adoption so it's like preaching to the choir. (Here I want to get up on the rooftops and motivate everyone on the planet--Christians in particular--to get involved in orphan care!! but both(!) of you readers have either already adopted or are adopting now.)

On a related note, I'm really considering re-opening this blog for public view. The only reason I've kept it private is that I've started discussing our older kids by name and have even mentioned our home town. I really am not a paranoid person but 3 of our children were adopted from local foster care and born about 15-20 minutes from here. I respect our kids' birth families but I''m not keen on having them know all about our personal lives. I know probably most of them know exactly where we live anyway and have not used that knowledge to cause any problems but still . . . I want to be smart. Any words of wisdom? And no, I really cannot imagine trying two blogs.

Some of you know we had submitted Steven's passport to the Ukrainian consulate in San Francisco about 2 weeks after we got home (this registration is required within 30 days of return to the US). I was getting pretty nervous because said document had not yet been returned (and ya'll well know just how much trouble we had GETTING that lovely blue thing in the first place.) Thankfully someone on Reece's Rainbow 'happened' to make a passing remark about a self-addressed stamped envelope. Uh oh!! Guess what I'd forgotten to enclose with the registration? YIPES! So I sent a SASE along with detailed note about Steven's birth name, birth birth date, new name, new birth date, place of birth, date of adoption decree, etc etc. and so help me, got the passport no more than 5 days later, maybe 4. Just Tuesday I took my place as #66 in the busy Social Security office (day after Columbus Day) and was promised a social security number within about 10 days.


9/20--My son Billy very happily playing the drums at church singspiration to accompany the beautiful song Kevin wrote.


9/23--Steven getting his hair cut at Great Clips


9/23-- Grandma and hairdresser were both trying to get Caleb to hold still--quite a job. He absolutely cannot stand the little hairs falling on his face and just squirms and fusses while constantly trying to brush them off.



9/25-- Two of our kids had overnight guests and we all went bowling at Cedar Lanes--the first time I ever remember actually bowling as a family. It was a lot of fun.


Caleb covering his ears at the bowling alley--I can't remember what noise he was trying to avoid.

Steven watching what was going on


10/2-- Scheri got to hold B's wedding bouquet while B and her sweetie cut the cake at their reception

Our babysitter and her new husband, October 2

October 6-- Scheri and Teresa all dressed up for Hawaii Day during Homecoming Week. I had just bought these shirts for something like $1.49 at KMart a couple days earlier

October 7-- Caleb and Steven looked so cute in their striped button-up collar shirts as they were eating before heading to school. I tried and tried to get a good picture. I basically just have to snap and hope because they hold still for the tiniest speck of time (and I think the shutter on my cell phone is very slow anyway)
The view I think I'm getting is NOT the one I end up with.




10/10--Caleb with Poppi and Grandma ('Amma') at cousing Elizabeth's wedding
10/13--Steven and Caleb helping Mommy clean up Scheri and Teresa's old sink/dishwasher that has been living out in the yard for months and maybe years





2 comments:

Meredith said...

Great pic's and posts, Joy!!

As far as going public, if you have things on this blog from the past posts that you'd rather not have public, but you want to reopen your blog, why not put a "final post" here which redirects to a new public blog where you can start fresh? That way you don't have to keep up both, but you also don't lose your current readers (make sure you post the public blog address!) and I know it is MUCH easier for people to follow when it's public... I use google reader to read public blogs regularly, but I rarely get to the private ones of people who aren't physically in country :( Thanks for all the wonderful pictures and updates!!

Natalie said...

Thanks for the updates, Joy. I hear ya' on the orphans thing and am looking foward to hearing how your presentation goes.

on the public blog, it is hard with older kids because they do value their privacy and with domestic adoption things can be even more complicated.

I love that people like you are willing to put themselves on the line and bear such public witness by blogging about their adoptions and experiences as an adoptive family.

It sounds like transitioning to a public blog where you protect your family's privacy more than you do in the private blog, could be a good compromise.

(and I am sure there are more than "both" of us who read your blog)