We've Been Busy

The kids watch as Papa piles up all the dossier papers to begin burning them;-(
Duane lights them up to burn.
The kids move in for a closer look at their burning papers and the instrument by which they all became our beautiful little children and Americans.
Papa gets out clothes hangers so the kids can roast marshmallows. They really enjoyed doing that!!!
John-John is melting a marshmallow in his mouth...YUMMY!!!
Katie Aunna has a little streak of orneriness. She is showing us her marshmallow in her mouth...Ha Ha!!!!

Well, we have obviously been very busy lately. I wanted to post about our adoption "vasectomy". Yes, I know this is a strange use of the term "vasectomy" that Duane came up with about three weeks ago. It simply boils down to us burning all of our last six international adoption dossiers!!! It is a bit odd to me to do this, as I ran my legs off, getting those dossiers pulled together between 2002 and 2008. We had all the papers in a box stashed in the back of my closet. It did rather fit into my cleaning frenzy that I am still experiencing. I would swear that I am nesting after Katie Aunna's adoption rather than before.

I did do a little bit of nesting before we went to Russia on our court trip in April. Of course, we did not expect to stay for a month in Russia and so maybe I would have had a little more energy to nest if I would not have been so exhausted getting the Murmansk dossier pulled together. Then to stand there, and watch all these precious papers burn, has had a little more of an emotional effect on me than I had predicted that it would. However, it also was a nice feeling that we have completed our family. I love adopting internationally, but, we just can not afford to do it anymore. These days, following the "vasectomy", I am feeling a little regret and yet I know the facts financially. Maybe, we will suddenly get "rich"....ha ha....I doubt it. However, I am really enjoying my children so very much!!! So, that's what I will focus on and the many responsibilities still to come.

This has been such a fun summer with Katie Aunna at home. She is everything I have dreamed about in an older child adoption. Considering, we have been blessed with children in just about every "conceivable" way, Katie Aunna has been a fabulous experience for us. I am so happy to be her Mama and she could not be any happier to be my little girl!!! I think back when we were visiting her in February and she had just had surgery. My sweet little girl all alone during a surgery we would (in America) be camping out with her in her hospital room. It left a terrible scar both physically and emotionally for Katie Aunna. After being at home now for two months...she still asks me if her arm will be hurt anymore and will I keep her always. I can't help but to smile and hug her closely when I promise her that the rest of my life belongs to her.

So, I suppose we will have to endure the test of time in regard to the "no more" children mentality. Duane is standing firm that we can not afford any more children. I do believe him, as we are having a rough time, getting straightened out financially. Further, I understand that Russian adoptions WILL continue to become a much longer process to finalize. This is such a hardship on the adoptive family both financially and emotionally. I seriously doubt we will be able to do it again;-(!!!!

Okay...on to other news.....we went over to Lubbock to the pediatric orthopedic doctor. They cut off Casey's cast (STINKY) and put on a new fresh one which he will wear for the next three weeks. Then the doctor will evaluate his x-rays and determine if he needs anymore cast time. I also had an appointment for x-rays with them for Katie Aunna. It was not good as apparently the diagnoses of a "non-union" of her left shoulder was not quite the case. She has evidence of an old break which did not properly heal. The good news is that she is seeing the best doctors for her little arm and they will be following her healing process since this surgery occurred only five months ago. Our doctor also said that her scar is at a nice time to break up some of the scar tissue underneath it since it is still a pink scar. So we will continue to gently massage vitamin E oil after bath each night, be sure to get her neuromuscular therapy, and her chiropractic care. My little Arctic Princess grows stronger with her trust in us every day.

We also visited our wonderful Dr. Neal while in Lubbock. Karissa has another perforation in her NEW eardrum she received in Dallas last December. It looks like, if her eardrum does not heal completely, she will not get her middle ear replaced. Unfortunately, she will not hear in that ear without her next surgery. Then Katie Aunna got into the doctor's exam chair and she has "swimmers ear"!!! Can you imagine that??? Ha Ha....as much time as we spend swimming....I was not surprised. Both girls were prescribed a ten day round of steroids. If it was any other doctor...I might be more concerned. But, we trust Dr. Neal so much that we would immediately follow his treatment of our beautiful children without question. We also discussed Katie's tonsils which remain very large and inflamed.

Apparently, they will not heal and are more of a source of poison to her rather than a help

to eliminate her body's infections. So, the plan is, tentatively set, that we will remove them in September. I am a bit concerned about that as Duane's business has earned a trip to Switzerland for us in October. I wish all the kids could go!!! Unfortunately, these trips are not kid friendly and my dear husband does not want to travel to Europe with seven kids...awe!!!! So, we will need to leave the kids at home;-(. I just don't know how I will survive for two weeks without my children. Yet, I want to spend some alone time with Duane that is not bogged down with the stress of an adoption process or our complex daily lives.

Hopefully, it will all fall into place for a little R&R for Duane and I this October. Now, we must decide who will stay with the children, work on the bills so we can save some spending money, and get Katie and Karissa's health needs in check, then try to relax without my kids....OH MY!!!! Oh yes, and this Fall we will need dental care for all the kids, John's circumcision, and a new school year to conduct. It should be very interesting as I attempt to make it all mesh successfully. Have I mentioned that we are also praying for God to see our way clear for a Dodge Sprinter???

We would really appreciate your prayers with us as it is so difficult to go anywhere with our minivan. I can only seat six kids with one of the six sitting in the front seat. This means I must get a sitter for the ones left at home every time I need to go anywhere. I have actually turned to late night shopping as I can go and leave the kids at home sleeping with Duane to take care of them. Next year we will take a family vacation (God willing and we can afford it) to our favorite place...Branson, Missouri. This is also an important time to have a larger vehicle. Family vacations are so important to the kids and to us as some of my fondest memories with my own parents were those family vacations. I really want this for our children, too. So, please pray for our Sprinter;-). Seven kids presents a special problem and adding our two grandchildren, we are talking about NINE kids (with two adults) on a family vacation with a destination 16 hours drive away!!! But, oh so worth it all;-).

Okay...my final subject is school. I have done a lot of research in regard to curriculum programs. This will be our second year of homeschooling and I must admit that I wonder at times if I am just crazy or what!!! I could send all of them to school and preschool at their ages and have a peaceful day Monday through Friday. Oh sure!!! I know how I am and I would feel like I was cheating myself out of time with them. More than lost time is that our school systems here are awful and I want the best education possible for them. So, who better qualifies than I do??? No one;-). This means my last 12 years in the business of assisting other people's children and my college degrees dictate that "I am the BEST teacher" for them. I also wanted to include some pictures of Casey and his tool skills. I found the cutest little preschool desks for John-John and Mary!!! Casey got out the tools and put them together with basically one hand. I think he should follow in his Dad's footsteps and be a Carrier Dealer;-). John-John and Mary are delighted with their own special desk...how cute!!!!

Now, once that I have established who is their best teacher....we needed a curriculum. Last year it was rather eclectic as I bought various workbooks and used the Internet, as well, for curriculum materials that I put together for them. This was very difficult as I have John-John who is in SN preschool, Mary in regular preschool, Christian and Karissa starting second grade, and Casey in a combination of 6th, 7th, and 8th grade work in various subjects. This would be my most prime example of poor public schooling when my child is weak in some areas and advanced in others. He needed customizing and that is what I did. He still is not current in his grade levels and so I need a curriculum that I can choose what to purchase and customize our academic needs.

In retrospect, it was wonderful watching Karissa and Christian learn to read for me!!!! WOW!!! Also, it was so special to reclaim a relationship with my teenage boy without the interference of school separation and peers. John-John has amazed me with his progress and Mary ACTUALLY loves my preschool class!!! AWESOME!!! It was also wonderful for Annie's pre-K training as she will be a big Kindergarten girl this year. She learned so well and is quite prepared for Kindergarten. Now, include Katie Aunna, who is just getting a good grasp on English, and we definitely need customized and structured all in one.

This year I really feel I can do even better if I use a tried and true curriculum. Then it occurred to Duane and I that I should research curriculum within our Catholic religious beliefs. So, I wrote to my Catholic International Adoption group for advice. I received lots of good information both privately and on the list. It seemed to be repeatedly suggested that the Catholic Heritage Curriculum ranks at the top of the list. I have ordered all of their school curriculum for all the grades...preschool through middle school. Next, I went into nesting mode again and remembered we had a really nice bookcase which was sitting in our storage building gathering dust while I had five large tubs of materials I have to sift through. Yep...you guessed it....we have all of our materials from last year organized and a shelf waiting to receive the new CHC materials. I just about passed out when the curriculum cost was given to me.

But, Duane had an excellent point!!! The kids are getting lots of one on one schooling attention with a great curriculum for far less than we would pay tuition in a private Christian school. Here we do not have a Catholic school and so it would not be parochial even if we sent them for $800 monthly per child to our one and only private Christian school. What a sweet man my husband is as he then added that the children will continue to have the best teacher in town;-). I really think that's sweet of him to have so much confidence in my skills and academic background. So, now we wait for the UPS truck to pull up to our door in a few weeks with our brand new Catholic curriculum!!!

We also had visitors from Albuquerque;-). Duane's brother, Denis, came to town. He is holding his grand daughter...what a little doll!!!! As you can see....we have been very busy lately and I doubt it is going to slow down either. But, I guess this is the way we like life....a challenge. Many blessings to you and please pray with us for our vehicle problem.