And he's only 3 yrs old!

Hudson is crazy smart, verbal, and a smart alec.  Yesterday he got a hold of the garage door clicker.  I said "Hudson, don't click buttons."  I was watching him and he basically was defying me, aiming his chubby fingers to push.  I said, a bit louder I might add, "Hudson, don't push buttons."  He continued going for it.  At this point, I was mad and I said, in a loud mad-as-fire-don't-mess-with-momma voice "Hudson DONT push buttons!"

Calmly, he looked at me and informed me "It just has one button"

That kid understood the difference in single and plural.

Its a good thing he's so dang adorable!

Heart Gallery debuts tomorrow

I'm so stinkin' excited!  Last Februray, my friend and I launched Project PAPA(p-protect, a-advocate, p-provide, a-adopt), our church's ministry to orphans and at-risk children.  Friday, we set up the Heart Gallery for this area.  Basically, in Texas there are approximately 1500 kids whose parental rights have been terminated and they are legally cleared for adoption--the only trouble is--they have no forever family ready to adopt them and they wait in foster homes.  So, the Heart Gallery is 30 portraits, a small representation of those kids.  I'm praying for our church to be smacked upside the head, have their hearts broken and their spirits stirred to care for children like these!  I get to  introduce the display from the pulpit, so, while I'm getting stage and mic time, I'm wearing my 147 Million Orphans--Feed One tshirt
       Click Here to get yours
I'm so grateful that our pastor and staff are supportive and excited about this.

The yearly ARD meeting

If you have a child with special needs, you speak another language.  For instance, ARDs, IEPs, Content Mastery, Resource minutes, and such.  It stinks to know this language.  Sitting in the ARD meeting with the principal, the diagnostician, the speech-language pathologist, the special ed teacher, the general ed teacher can be overwhelming.  We are so super blessed.  The sweet little public elementary that Dillon attends is top-notch.  We are certain that the staff truly want what is best for him and they really like him!  Mr. B. told about the huge difference he has seen over the last 3 years.  The SLP has been with him for almost 5 years.  His Resource/Content Mastery teachers act like he is their child and send home pictures they take of him at school events, even gifts for him!  If you are a special ed teacher, hats off to you!!

Today we talked in depth about his apraxia.  He has made great progress, just has a long way to go still. They mentioned evaluating him for an assistive language board.  The problem with giving him the board is that we are afraid he will quite trying to communicate.  As Mr.B pointed out, you can see the wheels turning, Dillon tries so hard to form the sentences and communicate his thoughts.  Yes, he gets frustrated when the words don't come out; but when he quits getting frustrated and decides to not try anymore, that will be the real tragedy!  So, if he gets the assistive board and begins to see that it is easier to use the board than talk, our fear is that he will quit trying.  The SLP feels that there is nothing more powerful than him being able to communicate effectively with the world.
Here's the hard part...school is getting harder and harder.  The other students are reading books alone and learning about solids, liquids, and gases.  WHY is everything much harder for my son???  I'm not lamenting for us, I'm lamenting for him!  It breaks my heart to watch him, 3months shy of 9, try to tie his shoe.  He shoots baskets over and over and over, never giving up, but almost never making a basket. 
For now, he loves school, LOVES food and music, actively participates in his classroom, takes up the offering every Sunday at church, loves the Texas Rangers(especially number 5 Ian Kinsler--or as he says "Cleanser").  Dillon loves to worship, lifts his hands and sings loudly.  He is a great checkers and Connect 4 player. He has 10 sight words memorized, is doing well in math, and has a blast on his Upward Soccer team at our church.  He's a pure delight, a rare jewel of a boy who loves his family with all his being.  We are so thankful.

Affording Adoption

My mother told me about a conversation she had with a young woman at church last week.  The lady is about to get married and she and her fiance are really burdened for orphaned children in the world.  She was telling my mom about how she felt called to adopt.  Funny thing is, she didn't know that my mother has 4 grandchildren through adoption.  Of course, mom was all gung-ho and told about ours and my sister, Melody's stories.  The young woman couldn't believe we'd adopted from Korea 3 times and said "but it is so expensive, how did they do that?  Oh, I know, God provided" (don't you just love the woman's simple faith that where God guides, God provides!?).  This is the good part--my mother said "No"!  Then she said "Well, yes, God did provide, but they made it a priority, a lifestyle, and sacrificed other things to be able to adopt."  Preach it Mom!!! 

It absolutely burns me up when people act interested in adoption and then when they ask me how much the fees are, they suddenly believe they aren't called to give a home/family to a parentless child.  What I'd really like to tell them...."So, your bank account, college savings, house and decor, new cars, vacations, and basically meaningless JUNK are worth it, but the 163 million orphaned children in the world aren't?"  And, not to mention the fact that fostering costs nothing and adopting through the state has very nominal fees, and many are waived! There are 500,000 children in the US foster system.  Texas has about 3500 children with parental rights terminated, waiting for a forever family to call their own.
  In  Luke 12:33-34 Jesus says "Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also"

I love the last line.  Where your treasure is...your heart follows!  Where is your treasure?  Your heart will be there also.

Entertainment value

I can't resist sharing some hilarious old pics to make you all grin!  Last night Mike was spending quality daddy time with the little ones.  His favorite activity is to lay on the bed with old photo albums and show them pics.  I dug out some that will crack you up. Or, maybe they won't, maybe my brain's a bit fried.  I just mopped with Ammonia.  What is ammonia anyways?  I remember my mother mopping with it when I was a kid.  So, in my mind, if you don't get a slightly singed nasal hair after cleaning, then it isn't really clean? 

First off, here is Dillon at age 3. He looks like a Compassion Int. chid that needs sponsoring.  This picture was taken at his 2 day a week childcare center.  I did not send him to school in light blue knickers!  I guess he'd gotten dirty and they dug out clothes from a leftover pile.  Of course, it would be picture day!  When he came home, I peeled the tight knickers off him and they were size 12months wind pants.  Classic family pic!

Next, we have Mike's artwork.  This is his rendition of sitting in between 2 older Korean gentlemen on the subway in Seoul.  I giggled the whole way because he looked like a giant!

There is one more that I keep loading and loading, but alas, after 5 attempts, I'm sick of it.  The picture was of Hudson at about age 9months.  He is in a walker, in his foster mother's home, and I kid you not, has a pink flowered head band on!  Umm, excuse me?

Church Sunday night

A dear teacher at Mike's school was being ordained Sunday night as a minister of the gospel.  He leads worship at a tiny church in the poor, minority section of the city.  The pastor of the church also teaches at our school, and they've been serving at this church for 5 years.  We were invited to Max's ordination.  First, about Max.  Max was raised in Panama.  He is trilingual, teaches Spanish at the school, plays guitar and sings.  He leads mission trips to the jungles in Panama(think travel 3 hours by canoe to get to the villages) each summer--Yeah baby, you know I want to go!  We love Max.  So we loaded up Sunday evening and went.  The church is behind a liquor store in the hood in the part of the city where people have big fences around their front yards and strangers to the neighborhood probably lock their doors when driving by.  Really, I'm not exaggerating at all.  It shares a building with a Head Start daycare for educationally at-risk children.  I LOVED being there.  Talk about an authentic church.  Everything was old.  No fancy PowerPoint presentation, no hands-free mics, children sitting with their parents instead of being wisked away to nursery, hymnals from 1975, different ethnicities together.  It was similar to when I was at a church service in Nicarauga(except for the air conditioner).  The people there weren't waiting to be entertained.  A breath of fresh air.

Preview

No time for a real post. I'm running out the door to work and I started a  new class last night.  Here is a preview of what I want to "chat" about.
Dillon's soccer team--PRESH.  Out of 6 little boys, 5 are Korean.  Too cute!
Last night we had the sweetest experience.  We went to church in the hood!  It was humbling and beautiful.