.....continued from previous post..... I was explaining my two emotional foster kids to the new, (competing) agency and how burned out I was......

I loved these children. But I also had K, only a baby at the time, on my back everywhere we went, so I could keep her safe and out of reach, and bonding to me.

I was trying to find a way to relate and connect with both these children. It was working. All the caseworkers,... more

The story at the following link caught my eye. With all the stuff going on in the middle east I found this to be a great story. The link is http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8JOCIGG2.html

The article was written by Elizabeth White a journalist for the Associated Press.

Reuniting with her father, Felicia Dorsey felt it was a life changing experience. She met her father for the first time in her 34 years of life at the... more

Three years ago I developed and disseminated (via Internet mostly) a questionnaire about parenting birth and adopted children together. I will draw on some of the responses to that as I “find my voice” with this blog. I developed the questionnaire because there are few resources available that address this special kind of family. I would be very interested in hearing from those of you reading this blog if you think there is a need for a book about this topic. What did you wish you knew beforehand? What surprised you after the fact? Is... more

I’ve been writing this week about my self imposed rules for fost-adopting again.

There has been a bit of straining my brain as I’ve been writing some of my thoughts down on the keyboard.

Sometimes it is difficult trying to formulate what I really think about each issue and how to explain it as though I wasn’t a total... more

I just found this marvelous spice database entry on cassia that launches unexpectedly into a minor treatise on Chinese cooking techniques.

It makes me very hungry. I want to make a shui lu (or is it lu shui?).

Typical flavourings for a master sauce are rice wine, fresh ginger and basically all the spices employed for red braising: Cassia, star anise, orange peel, fennel, sichuan pepper and licorice. Sichuan cooks will often use additional spices like black cardamom and lesser galangale. Mixtures of whole spices for master sauces are often sold as lu shui liao... more

Sometimes families don’t end up with biological and adopted children in the same family as a result of careful planning and preparation… sometimes it just happens. I have often spoken to parents who find themselves parenting nieces or nephews or other extended relatives. While this is somewhat different from parenting children adopted through foster care or international adoption, many of the same issues and challenges are present. Additionally, the biological parents might be more involved in the child’s life…thus creating a unique open... more

Getting back into the swing of routine life after a long summer, is hard on everyone. No more late night movies or cartoon marathons. It is time to retrain our bodies to get enough rest so that we can be awake, alert and learn in school. It is often hard for children to sleep when it is still light outside. One way to help the children get used to earlier bed times is to pull the blinds or hang darker curtains on the windows. This will allow the kid's to know it is time for sleep.

Getting dinner routine back on schedule is... more

Part 3 of 4

Part 1: Book Review: Adoption as a Ministry, Adoption as a Blessing by Michelle Gardner.

Part 2: When Your Spouse is Reluctant to Adopt

When Michelle and Steve Gardner decided to adopt older children with physical challenges, their friends and church family challenged them with several questions.... more

I'm heading home soon, but in the meantime you're stuck with another resurrected post.

My life is much different than many, and a big reason for the differences is where I live. Sharing stories of island life is always fun for me. In this post, called, "Just South of the Equator" I tried to convey some of the feel of this place.

We had a bit of rain last night.

Yes, only a bit.

As Mark and I were sitting... more

I just realized I forgot my “Wednesday funny” yesterday, so here you go… a Wednesday funny on Thursday, just to keep you on your toes. :)

Today’s funny is another one from Mr. Marcus. The kid is so “TWO” right now, and while he is strong-willed and at times somewhat volatile, he is also sweet and cuddly and extremely hilarious.

This past week Marcus hasn’t been the happiest guy in the mornings. You see, that rotten school bus has been coming and stealing six of his favorite people every morning…carrying them off to somewhere that apparently in Marcus’s mind is surely torturous and dangerous.

If there is anything that Marcus feels more strongly about at this point in... more