The Game of Life

I have been seeing the word adoption all over the place. I am really excited about it. One of the places I saw the word adoption was in the game of Life. I played it for the first time today. I am starting to understand that it is very important and I think more families should adopt a child.

Kate

Giving Big Hearts of Kids

I understand that in households across America, moms succeed in achieving tidy, clean, efficient, beautiful bathrooms for their kids everyday. However, the truth for us lies somewhere between too small and close to HazMat dirty at times.


The three kids share a bathroom and we have had two rounds of Strep in the past three weeks. We decided drastic action was necessary.


The solution began with a trip to WalMart for handsaniter (hanitizer as we call it), antibacterial wipes, new toothbrushes, new toothpaste, and tongue scrapers. $100 later we were armed with what we thought would prevent the spread of this annoying and expenses infection.


Each child got his or her own drawer or cabinet to keep all their personal items. Gone were the days of every one's toothbrushes in the medicine cabinet. We sterilised the entire bathroom, gave a fresh new toothbrush and toothpaste to each child. Everyone got a new tongue scraper.


I was about to congratulate myself on my genius when I spied 87 six damp towels haphazardly hung on the towel rack. I saw with my naked eye every damp Strep cell dividing and spreading from towel to towel. No child of mine every cared if she was using her own towel or if he was, in fact, using the bath mat to dry off.


So our next step was to get out my favorite appliance of all time...my label maker! I threw all those nasty towels in the wash on hot, got out three fresh towels and labeled where each child would be hanging his or her towel for ever more.


Then the real genius hit and I called the kids in to show them my amazing work and to announce the World's Cleanest Kid in the Bathroom contest. Whoever could keep their personal space the cleanest for the next week, I proclaimed, would get the not yet decided upon secret PRIZE.


One week later, I was enjoying the cleanest bathroom of all time. If a child happened to leave his towel on the floor, well, I could tell in a millisecond whose towel it was. The personal drawer space was working like a charm and the kids were still enjoying the newness of the antibacterial wipes to clean the counter each night.


But why is this post called Giving Big Hearts of Kids? Because last night I announced the winner. Not wanting any 'losers' in my house but still wanting to promote a healthy sense of competition, I gave first, second and third prizes. Not really surprising to us, they won in birth order. Jack came in third. He had a couple of unfortunate mishaps in the bathroom but he still won a quarter. Layne, does exactly what she needs to get by but our first born, Kate does it with gusto. So Kate won a Dollar, Layne won Fifty Cents and Jack got a Quarter.


Then the sweetest thing happened when I tucked Jack into bed...."Mom, I want to give my Nickle (aka that quarter I just gave him) to the adoption fund."


Break my heart with pride at his love.

Mom

What's Jack Saying

Mom, "Jack are you excited about being a big brother?"

Jack, "Yes."

Mom, "Why are you excited? What will be different when he comes home?"

Jack, "I won't have to worry about who to play with."

Mom, "What if God chooses a really little boy for our family?"

Jack, "Then he might put things in his mouth. I'll have to keep all the small things away so he stays safe."


Sweet Boy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mom

Dear Blogger...

Dear Blogger,


I have been very excited this week. One day I said all I want for my birthday is a new baby brother. My mom laughed. I don't know why that was funny. I pray for him every night now.


Layne

Uganda

I got a book at the public library called Uganda, Enchantment of the World by Ettagle Blauer and Jason Laure. Here are some things I learned.

• Uganda is slightly smaller than Oregon.
• Uganda is right in the middle of Africa very far from any ocean.
• The longest river in Uganda is the Victoria Nile
• The largest lake in Africa is in Uganda and it is called Lake Victoria. It is 26,828 square miles
• Uganda's border is 580 miles and it is near Kenya
• The high temperatures in Kampala, Uganda are 82 degrees and the low temperatures are 64 degrees.
• The driest area is Gulu and they get .4 inches of rain in January.
• Wettest area is Entebbe and that gets 9.8 inches in April.

Kate

What My Family is Going to Look Like

Jack

Excitement!

Today I can't stop thinking about the adoption. I will love a little brother from Uganda. I want to play with him and Jack.
Layne

Changes....

One morning at 7:30 am I went in to my mom and dad's room. I asked my mom "Where's dad?" She said he went to work. We were talking for a little bit. My mom said, "Kate, Daddy and I have been talking about the adoption.  Daddy is wondering what you would think if we adopted a littler child than we told you about. When he comes home, maybe he would be two." She said that's not for sure butI said, "I would be happy to have a two year old."


Well, that's the end of my story. If you're going to adopt too, I wish you good luck.
Kate

Helping with Hague Training

I came home from church on Sunday. In church I learned to love everyone even if they act like a dog.

Well, anyway, my mom sat right down at her desk. I said, "Mom, what in the world are you doing? It's a Sunday. You shouldn't be doing work!" She answered, "I am not working. I am taking a class for adoption. Would you like to do it with me?" I answered, "Yeah, sure!"

The class took 3 hours, I think. Me and my mom took notes. When my mom tucked me in to bed she said, "Kate go to sleep, we had a long test today about the adoption and you have a big day tomorrow so good night." She gave me a kiss and a hug and turned off the lights. And then she went to go finish another adoption test.

That's the end of my story but I just want to say for those people who are going to do the adoption test, good luck! Because it is a long one!
Kate

Our Homestudy and How it Went

When Kristen, our social worker, came over for the home study, she talked to our parents for a really long time. I don't know what she was talking. She talked to all three of us - Kate, Layne, and Jack. She asked what happens if we get in trouble, what do you do with just you and your mom and dad and that kind of stuff. At the end of that talking Kristen took a look at the house. It was safe.

That's what our home study was about. It took 3 whole hours to finish.
Kate




When Kristen came I was so excited. She asked a lot of questions to my mom and dad and only like 3 to me but when she was asking my mom and dad them I was watching TV. I am really looking forward to this because I want another brother so we can play more games because we will have four kids in the family.

We are praying for our new brother in Uganda. We want to see a picture of him.
Layne



I felt happy because I finally get to talk to her. She was nice. She was not mean. She talked to me about about adoption.
Jack

We're Adopting!

Today my mom told me that we might adopt a child from Uganda. When she told me that my heart skipped a beat. I was excited but the next day when we were dropping my brother off at school I was worried.


I had a lot of questions. Some of them are, what do we do if he throws tantrums? What if he gets sick and what if he doesn't like me? My mom told me the answers to the questions and I thought about it through the day. Now I feel a lot better.
Kate



Today my mom and dad told me that I was going to adopt a boy. I was really excited because he might be 3 years old. I like 3 year olds. My brother is getting a bunk bed. Our new brother is going to sleep on the bottom bunk because my brother is 5.

We are going to need help getting money my mom said. I am going to help her because I am very good at it.
Layne

When my mommy told me we were going to have a new brother I was happy because I don't have to be worried at night. Because I am scared of the darkness. I thought I was going to talk at night to my new brother like the girls. I was worried about him playing with my toys and my monkey.
Jack