Got room?

My sister and her husband are foster/adoptive parents.  They got 2 calls this week.  Hear this:  at a hospital in the city a newborn was abandoned and they were looking for a foster family ready to take him in.  In another hospital in a city, a newborn boy was ready to be discharged, but had no family.  Can you really imagine it?  Not one person wanted to take those babies home?  Their agency, which works with the state's CPS dept was having a hard time finding families.  I'm shocked, really I am.  Got room for an abandoned newborn needing a safe and loving place?  It won't be easy, convenient, cheap, self-preserving, you won't get much sleep, not many people will understand your motivations, and heck, your heart may be broken....
But, what does God's word say?

proverbs 31:8
Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves


Isaiah 1:17
 learn to do right!
Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed.
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow.

Haircuts and Orthodontists

All 3 boys got haircuts yesterday.  Carter chopped his off in order to get ready for football practices next week.

Dillon looking rather suave in his new "crunchy" hair do.  The stylist spiked it with gel and thus, he calls it crunchy!

And here is Hudson eating a rice cake and showing off his green/purple eye from the nightstand! 

Abby is not here this week.  She's at my mother's house with my 10yr old  neice.  Every summer they have "Ma Camp" with my mom and do the things I hate:  paint fingernails, sew, cook and such.

As for orthodontists, well good and bad news.  Carter gets his braces off the day before starting 9th grade!  Dillon had an evaluation with Carter's ortho.  I knew it was going to be involoved.  Dillon has a tiny mouth with crowding.  It turns out that he has a bad underbite that will require wearing a reverse pull headgear.  Kid ya not, it looks like a medievil torture device!  He will begin palate expanders in 6months and then the headgear in 12months.  The doctor said he may even need surgery as an adult.  It is super tough with him because of his developmental delays and sensory processing disorder.  He is fearful of anything new and has few coping skills.  This will be a slow process of correcting his teeth.  When your orthodontist says " you and I are going to be real good friends" it is not a good sign :(

Poor Dillon, nothing is easy for him, well, except being incredibly handsome, sweet, loving and funny!

More Korean Heritage Camp

At camp, Mike attended a Korean cooking class and learned to make delicious vegetable pancakes.  He plans to make them for us soon.

Here is a group pic of all the campers/teachers/teen counselors.  So cool to see 180+ campers! 

Here is Carter playing with the adorable kindergartners.  They loved him.

We had a fantastic Korean lunch on Saturday and then watched the closing ceremonies.  Dillon's class did a Korean fan dance.  Abby's class read the Korean version of Cinderella.  I know who is going to be an extremely fun and excited camper in 2 years....Hudson!  He is a party dude.  He went to nursery while Mike and I volunteered all day Friday.  When I picked him up he was perfectly happy sitting in a circle with the toddlers eating a snack.  Last night driving home Dillon was beating on his Korean drum and teaching Hudson how to say Kimchi!  They obviously learned something.

We got home late last night.  Let's just say I don't want to sleep anywhere else but my house for a long time!

Korean Heritage Camp

Korean Heritage Camp started today.  Our adoption agency, Dillon International, has been putting on heritage camps for the adoptees and their families for 25years.  This is a huge reason we selected Dillon International.  They are pioneers in post adoption work and are committed to the family throughout the life of the child.  Why heritage camp?  Well, we feel it is very important to not only honor, but learn as much as we can about Korean culture.  After all, every time Abby, Dillon, and Hudson look in the mirror they see a Korean face.  Sure, they are American kids, but they will always be Korean to the world who sees their features.  At camp, our family is "normal" instead of being the only family around with biological and Korean children.  At camp our Korean kids make friends with other adoptees who completely understand what it is like to have experienced great loss and turmoil in their young lives.  At camp, the moms can sit around and talk about their immigration nightmares and other people get it instead of always hearing birth and labor stories.   At camp, Carter experiences reverse minority--he's odd man out and understands what his siblings feel everyday.  They teach the kids language, cooking, music, taekwondo and other facts about Korea.  We don't go every year, it is a big trek and really expensive for our family.  But, we do try.

We checked into our hotel with many other Dillon Int. families.  The funny thing about being here is the "Asian Invasion"(to steal my friend Kathy's term)!!  In the pool, it is hard to spot your Korean kids for once.  Usually I can glance at a pool and quickly find my Korean kids.  Not so at heritage camps.  A sea of black haired/dark skinned kids were swimming. 

Our hotel is a nice one with a small indoor kiddie water park. We looked like the Beverly Hillbillies came to town.  There's nothing  like a large family toting in sleeping bags and snacks to make you think classy!  An example of how the world is so 2kids and a dog oriented--if you have more than 3 kids you have to reserve 2 hotel rooms.  Well, on our budget, there is no way.  So, we snuck Carter in later!  4 people on beds, 2 on the floor.  Hudson was clumsy and fell into the nightstand. 

A shiner for Hudson!  Funny cause before we left, my good friend from Tulsa told us to go to St. Francis Children's if we needed an ER visit.  She knows what the past 3 weeks have held for us.  Hmmm, that was close!

Dillon wasn't thrilled about beginning camp.  He doesn't adjust to new things very quickly and was overwhelmed.  Carter was his teen counselor so hopefully that helps.

All in a all, a successful day. Abby made friends with a girl her age and we hope they will be buds for years to come.

Mike, Hudson, and I ate a little Vietnamese restaurant for lunch today. I've always wanted to try a bowl of Pho noodle soup--yummy!

Who exactly needs a family?

I got my issue of Rainbowkids online magazine yesterday.  This is one of the little boys there are looking for a family.  Is he not a sweet little pumpkin???  Oh, he is adorable and so deserves a family of his own.  Do you know someone whose home and hearts have room for one more smiling face?  145million kids without parents--maybe he will stop being a sad statistic soon?

Found out Hudson's babysitter quiting......I'm stressed!
Off to work....I'm worried about more changes for Hudson
She was going to also help with afterschool care with Dillon.....have nobody....school starts in 5 weeks
Okay Lord......show up big time please.....H E L P!

Great starter....bad finisher

I'm one of those types of people who has great enthusiasm for new ideas.  I get all fired up and declare that "from  now on......" and then fill in my new goal.  As I've said before, I'm a first born, bossy, know-it-all, type A, goal setter and a bit of a perfectionist.  I have grown enough to realize that I'm terrible at finishing strong.

Remember my running in the mornings-- not done!  Hey, I am walking 2 miles a few days a week.  Take my Radical Experiment(if you don't know what I'm talking about, click Radical) for example.  As for the giving up fast food, I've done really quite well.  I've only bought fast food twice since late May.  Yes, we have taken our family out to eat a few times though.  As for giving sacrificially to the needs of the poor, not done it(other than our monthly Compassion Intl girl we sponsor).  As for praying everyday for the nations, totally fell off the bandwagon.  I'm not proud of this attribute.  I want to change it.  Here is my new goal.  I just finished listening to Dave Workman(author of our favorite book Outward Focused Life) preaching last Sunday.  He interviewed a man who made a habit of not complaining, criticizing, or gossiping.  It took  9months of concious effort to get to where he doesn't do those 3 things.  So, I want to start today.  I'm going to wear a bracelet to remind me of my efforts(yes, I've done the Beth Moore blue bracelet thing where you practice living by faith--fell off that one too!).  I'll keep ya posted on my progress.