This Better Be the ONLY Time I Appear in Court with These Children

Friday we appeared with the girls in our local probate court to finalize their adoptions. For D it was just a formality in order to get her a birth certificate in English. As much as I enjoy the looks on people's faces when I hand them her 4 page Chinese birth certificate, especially since page 1 is completely in Chinese, things will be easier if the birth certificates are in a language there is a chance your average American can read. For K though, this is the next stop on her route to becoming a US citizen. We legally changed her name from her Ethiopian first name (which is now her middle name) to the name that we have been using all along. Next we apply for her Certificate of Citizenship (which costs a small fortune by the way) then a social security number then a passport (then taxes and FICA and all the other fun things we get to do as citizens) And it all needs done by August so we can pay OUR taxes. But it is finally done (I won't mention how long D's paperwork has been sitting unfiled in my "to do (eventually)" box. The girls now have the same legal standing as the boys.

Hanging out in the hearing room before the magistrate comes in.

Officially a family in the eyes of every governmental body that could possibly have an opinion on the matter.

Our Magistrate was a good sport about posing for pictures with us. I did have to bribe D with a sucker so that she would pose in the photo. Did she take my lesson about never being in court again seriously? Those of you who know her in real life can assume that she didn't.

K already has ambitions of being the one behind the bench- she is ready to work on those files just sitting there waiting for someone to "sign" them

Is This What They Mean By "Cement POND"?

Last year at the end of the summer we had a little wind storm that blew about a million (okay a thousand) leaves into the pool, as well as knocked out power for a while. By the time the power came back on, the leaves had all settled to the bottom and blocked the pump which ran dry for awhile before I realized this horrific noise in the backyard was the pump and shut it off. So B decides to deal with it all in the spring. Yesterday he pulled the cover off the pool and it is a little more "pond-like" than I normally like in a swimming pool. However- we have 2 guest at the pool who find the water condition to suit them just fine. (We call the pool guy on Tuesday to order a new pump)

It Matters to Me Because It Matters to My Kids

I found this photo on another blog I follow- it is from the White House and it is the President of the United States allowing this child to feel his hair to see if it feels "like his"  I spend alot of time educating people, particularly White adoptive parents, about race issues and often feel like I am banging my head on the wall trying to get some of them to understand why it is so important for children to see their color valued and validated.  Whether it is something as seemingly trivial as why doesn't Disney have a Black princess to what the President's hair feels like- plain and simple- IT MATTERS!  It matters not only to my kids, but to all the children who need to see themselves reflected positively in our world.

Happy Family Day, D!

Two years ago today- while we stood waiting in a small office in Xi'an China, into the room walked 2 nannies holding a sweaty little baby in a purple jumper. Her nanny handed her to us and she gazed into our eyes and started wailing. We had no idea all of the wonderful and amazing and challenging ways you were going to change our lives. It is hard to believe that it has been two years. On one hand it seems like it was just yesterday, while on the other hand it seems like you have always been here. You have come from being that baby so afraid of us that you clung to me for dear life hours upon hours to the brave girl who climbed without hesitation onto the biggest horse during horseback riding the other day at your school. We are so grateful to be able to be your parents. Today we also remember your birthparents, because as you are a part of us, they are a part of you.

Happy Family Day D- We Love You

This Won't Look Good on a Homestudy

I was downloading photos off my little point and shoot (the one in the diaper bag for photo "emergencies") and stumbled across these two.

This is the morning after the pajama party back in December. X and D were pulling the leftover soda out of the water filled cooler and drying them off on a towel so we could store them back in the boxes. They apparently opened the cooler with the "adult" beverages as well. On the plus side, it's a great sorting activity to develop math skills. Maybe I should try it with my preschool class........

Easter Morning (in honor of May Day)

So I finally upload the Easter photos from the camera only to find out that my suspicions the autofocus wasn't working Easter morning are true.  The photos of the kids finding the eggs only vaguely resemble the kids-okay, they barely resemble people at all.  However- I did take a bunch on manual focus which are better (or at least good enough you won't feel the need to run to your eye doctor) so here they are- Easter morning.

Yeah-Even in these bunny ears I'm cool- 

and don't you forget it

This is Supposed to be Fun Right?

Just a few examples of all the fun we had at the Community Egg Hunt our neighborhood hosted a couple of weeks ago....

K was not impressed with the crowd of people or the fact someone had dared to set her on the ground

D decided that if K wanted held so did she- Eventually the thought of candy won her over

However, X is not happy that I made him dump out his basket of 20 eggs (since the kids were each allowed only 5)

And A is unhappy that no one else's parents cared about the 5 egg rule besides his. He found it very unfair (and he's not wrong) that some of the bigger kids were taking "way more than 5 eggs"

Although by the end everyone had some eggs and was basically happy

Everyone was basically happy except for K that is- she decided the only thing worse than being set down on the ground was the 6 foot tall bunny