Our parenting adventure: a call to share!!!

Okay, I got this idea that I think will be fun. I would love to interact a little more here with all of you that stop by to check my blog.

The other day I was talking to coworker who is a psychologist. We were observing a child together who is having behaviors that are concerning in the classroom. After observing, we were chatting about ideas for the teacher and such and the conversation came around to parenting. I shared something I do with the kids that she thought was a great idea. Now this woman knows so much but still got an idea from me!LOL This made me think, how much can we all help each other on this daily adventure called parenting?

So here is what I am proposing:
*We all share three parenting ideas, tips or things we consider to be some of our most successful strategies. (Of course you can share more or less, I am just suggesting three)

*You do a post with your tips on Friday, October 17 and link it to my post with my three tips (I will post Thursday night). I will add your link on my post so we can all get to each other's from there. Make sure I know you posted by leaving a comment if you think I might miss it.

I know that when people do these things, they create fancy badges and such, I tried to create one but I was struggling and it was taking too long. So I am doing this low tech here as the most important thing is the info we are sharing! (although if you know a website to create cute badges, let me know)

Sometimes it can be overwhelming trying to juggle all the things we do. To parent our children is our most important calling and we all want to do it as best we can. I think it refreshes us to discuss this and to hear about what works for others.

Please consider doing this, this is my first time doing something like this and I think it will be fun. I know a lot of you are awesome parents and we can learn a lot from each other. I also know a lot of moms have adopted very recently or are in the process and would love to get some ideas.

These strategies can be especially for the adopted child and how to respond to adoption related issues that arise or tips for any child. Just pick what works well for you. You know that there are at least a few things you do that make you feel that you ROCK! I am even setting it up for Friday so you have all week to work on your post so you can prepare it at your convienence and just post it then.

If you want to comment and let me know you are participating, it will help let others know that "everyone is doing it" and help build some excitement (and I will be reinforced that this was a great idea- you wouldn't want me to have poor self esteem, would you?LOL ) You can even share this on your blog and invite your readers to participate- the more the merrier!

NOTE: If you don't have a blog, you can email me your response and I will include it on my blog. I will even give you credit and not pretend like your ideas were mine!LOL If you haven't started a blog but are considering it (Racheal and Sandy)- this gives you a good reason!

Forgiveness

Yesterday I happened to catch the Oprah show. I really don't watch much television anymore but as luck had it, I caught an episode on forgiveness.

The show was about a man whose son killed his wife and other son. So here this man has no immediate family left except for his son on death row. While there was talk about what happened and why he did it, what I got out of this episode the most was the how this man forgave his son. It did not appear to be merely words, he really did appear to have forgiven his son.

The episode explored how he was able to forgive with author Ned Hallowell who wrote the book Dare to Forgive.

The timing of this show and the fact that I saw it was really statistically significant as I have been struggling with forgiveness lately. I can forgive when a person is sorry about something and asks for forgiveness but sometimes that is not the case and the situation is much more complicated than that.

I want to share some of what this author says about forgiveness with you (taken from Oprah.com)...


Chapter 3: Forgiveness Sets You Free...

To understand forgiveness, you must first understand what forgiveness is not. Forgiveness is not turning the other cheek. Forgiveness is not running away. Forgiving someone does not mean that you condone what the person has done, nor does it mean that you invite them to do it again. It doesn't mean that you don't want the offending person to be punished. It doesn't mean that you forget the offense, nor does it mean that by forgiving you tacitly invite bad things to happen again. It doesn't mean that you won't defend yourself.

So what does it mean? Forgiveness is one of those words that we assume we can define, but when asked we stumble. Before you read on, try it yourself. How would you define forgiveness?
The dictionary can help. My American Heritage College Dictionary defines "forgive" as, "To renounce anger or resentment against." It goes back to a Greek root word that means "to set free," as in freeing a slave. Ironically, when we forgive, the slave we free is ourselves. We free ourselves from being slaves to our own hatred.

According to the dictionary definition I just cited, in order to forgive we must renounce resentment or anger. We do not have to forget, ignore or condone anyone or anything. We just have to renounce our anger and resentment. Even doing that may seem impossible, especially if whom or what we are trying to forgive has hurt us deeply. How do you forgive murder, child abuse or any other horrible offense? How is anyone supposed to renounce anger and resentment in cases like those? How do you stop feeling what you are feeling, or at least how do you renounce what you are feeling? And exactly what does that word "renounce" mean?

Turning to the same dictionary, I look up "renounce," and find the following definition: "To reject, disown."

This helps. In order to forgive I am not required to cease to feel anger or resentment, only to renounce anger or resentment, which means to disown my anger and resentment.

This distinction is crucial, not just a nicety of language. One of the chief reasons that people don't try harder to forgive or be forgiven is because they think it is impossible. They think that forgiving means ceasing to feel anger, hurt or the desire for revenge. How can you forgive someone who has murdered your friend, ruined your career, taken away your spouse or hurt one of your children? If forgiveness means that you cease to feel any anger or resentment toward that person, then for most of us forgiveness is indeed impossible—if not immoral—when the injuries are severe.

Forgiveness has therefore taken on a daft quality for many people, or at least a quaintness, as if forgiveness were a sweet old lady—a sweet old idea, one to which we pay our respects but think of as fragile and weak, unable to help us do the heavy lifting of everyday life. For the heavy lifting we believe we need strong young men—ideas that pack a punch, like vengeance, retribution and that great masquerader, justice.

But that is wrong. Forgiveness is much stronger, not to mention much wiser, than vengeance or retribution, and it begets the best kind of justice. Forgiveness is not a sweet old lady but a strong, seasoned veteran of many wars. Forgiveness bears a greater burden than vengeance ever could. Vengeance lets hatred rule you. Forgiveness overrules hatred. Forgiveness is not only stronger; it is much more clever and wise than vengeance or retribution. Forgiveness takes intelligence, discipline, imagination and persistence, as well as a special psychological strength, something athletes call mental toughness and warriors call courage.

If you look back at the definition of forgiveness, you can see why so much more is required of a person to forgive than to take revenge. When you forgive, you renounce anger and resentment. You give up your claim to anger and resentment. You disown those feelings, you repudiate them, you turn your back on them. Above all, you cease to live under their rule. You are consciously, deliberately renouncing your claim to what you probably want more than anything in the world: retribution, vengeance, a chance to get even. Doing this takes immense courage and strength.

But forgiveness does not require that you cease to feel the anger and resentment you so naturally experience. Not at all.

This crucial distinction is what makes forgiveness humanly possible, albeit still strange and difficult.

What does it mean to give up your title to anger and resentment or to refuse to live under their rule? It means that you set yourself free from those feelings. You no longer let those feelings own you; you disown them. When you feel the yoke of hatred start to take you in its grip, you step out. You lift it off. You renounce it. You put on the yoke of love, instead.

When you've been hurt, why on earth would you do this? In order to improve your own life. As Joanna North, a philosopher and renowned expert on forgiveness, put it: "What is annulled in the act of forgiveness is not the crime itself but the distorting effect that this wrong has upon one's relations with the wrongdoer and perhaps with others."

Throughout her writing, North emphasizes how forgiving (or accepting forgiveness) makes people healthier and happier. As she says, "Through forgiveness the pain and hurt caused by the original wrong are released, or at least they are not allowed to mar the whole of one's being for all time"

On the other hand, holding onto your title to anger and resentment, as if it were a precious deed of ownership, is like holding onto your title to a polluted pond.

Now, return to what I asked before: If you know why you want to forgive, then how do you do it? How do you stop feeling what you are feeling? It is often not enough just to want to. How do you stop your anger from ruling you?

The definitions point the way. You do not have to stop feeling what you are feeling. That's impossible. However, you can refuse to act on those feelings by hurling hand grenades or insults, and you can refuse to welcome those feelings when they hungrily come to your door, hoping to feed on your fantasies of revenge.

Renouncing certain feelings is something we've all learned how to do. For example, we renounce our aggressive feelings when we are stopped by a traffic cop for speeding. We might feel like punching the cop's lights out, but we renounce those feelings, we do not act on them, we disown them, we repudiate them, we do not let ourselves live under their rule. We continue to feel them; the feelings are still very much with us. We simply renounce their control over us.

I shouldn't say "simply" because such renunciation requires strength, patience and skill. But we manage to do it, every day, not only with our aggressive feelings, but also with our sexual feelings, and even our feelings of hunger and thirst or the need to use the bathroom.

When we forgive, we may continue to feel anger and resentment, just as we may continue to feel anger and resentment at the traffic cop who stopped us. But, if we are wise, we put those feelings aside. We do not let them rule our actions.

Furthermore, we try not to welcome the feelings when they skulk back, looking to be nursed. That means when we think of the person who hurt us, we do not give in for very long to the temptation to dream up scenes of revenge or revel in methods of torture. You can luxuriate in imagined scenes of revenge, you can cuddle and nurse your angry feelings, but after a while you risk nursing those feelings into a monster that ends up destroying you, not your enemy.

Let's say you've been betrayed by a coworker, which led to your getting fired from your job. Do you really want to spend parts of the next five or ten years contemplating scenes of this person being humiliated, fired, rejected or in other ways hurt? For a little while, yes, you do. You should; you need to. But for months and years? Wouldn't that mean you gave that person more power over you than was good for you? Wouldn't that mean that the person had achieved a double victory: first by getting you fired, then second by infecting your free time with fantasies of revenge?
Try to think of feelings of anger and resentment as dangerous drugs—useful sometimes in small doses, but highly toxic as regular intake. Try to resist welcoming them into your imagination. They rarely do you good. They often do you serious harm.

When the vengeful feelings creep in, refuse to live under their rule, for your own sake.

Instead, be guided by the principle of love.

This is where forgiveness gets tricky. How can you love, or even like, someone who has hurt you? You naturally feel emotions quite different from love, be they fear, anger, resentment, dislike or even hatred. You cannot control what you feel, any more than you can control the weather.
But you can control what you do with what you feel. You can renounce the rule of anger, resentment and hatred, and subscribe instead to the rule of love. This much you can control. This much you can consciously and deliberately decide to do.

Gradually, as you resist the rule of anger, you can develop empathy for your enemy. There is no one you can't develop something like love for if you know their whole story. I know that sounds like an awful stretch when you are talking about people who have done terrible deeds. In those cases, simply begin by letting the principle of love rule your actions, the principle of love for all humankind, not just love for your friends. Then, gradually try to understand where the evil came from. Try to understand how your enemy, who was once an innocent and loving infant, turned into such a monster. As you understand, your hatred will gradually subside, and in its place something like love will start to grow.

Right alongside, you will grow as well.

Okay, so if you are still with me, perhaps it is because there is someone that you need to forgive? If so, here are the steps according to Hallowall...
4 Steps to Forgiveness

By Dr. Ned Hallowell

Step 1: Pain and Hurt
Dr. Hallowell says the first step to forgiveness is acknowledging what happened.

Talk to someone you trust and open up about how hurt, sad or angry you may feel. Let your emotions out and don't apologize for them.
Don't withdraw or isolate yourself. Stay connected and feel the pain, even though it hurts. With someone there to listen, the pain is more bearable.

Step 2: Reliving and Reflecting
Once you've had the chance to vent, you are ready to appeal to your rational side.

Ask yourself: What do you want this pain to turn into?
Look for the hook. Dr. Hallowell says the hook is what is holding you back—it's the portion of the misdeed that is causing you to hold on to your anger and resentment.
Empathize with the person who hurt you.
Remember that forgiveness is not the service of condoning. It's a service to yourself—free yourself from the poison of hatred.

Step 3: Working It Out
Dr. Hallowell says this step is difficult, but you need to analyze your anger and put your life back into perspective.

Flatten the hook and rid yourself of the anger that is keeping you from forgiveness. Praying and mediating can help.
Take inventory and give thanks for all the things you do have.
You can imagine vengeance—just don't act on it.
Think of your future. Know that you and your loved ones will be better off once you have rid yourself of any vengeful thinking.

Step 4: Renounce Your Anger and Resentment
Dr. Hallowell uses the word "renounce" because your resentful feelings may never permanently go away.

Acknowledge that your anger can come back.
If your anger does comes back, go through the process again and flatten the hook to keep moving forward.
Try to teach others the skill of forgiveness in an empathetic way.


I found some peace in reading this. I had been asking around and looking inside myself for the strength to forgive in a situation in which I need to. This Oprah episode helped put things in perspective as what I need to forgive for is not nearly as serious as murder, surely I can do this. If there is someone in your life that you need to forgive, perhaps you can too?...

The orphanage in Kasoa...

This is a post I have been working on for awhile. I have thought about what I wanted to say and how much I want to include of my experience on this day. It was a day that will forever be in my memory. When you see me going about my life and if I seem like the same person I was before going to Africa, know that I am not the same. More than anything else on my 28 days in Africa, when I think of poverty, when I think of orphans, this day remains...

Kasoa is about 45 minutes from Eban House with the possibility of it being a few hours based on traffic. Before going to Kasoa, I saw pictures and I knew what to expect. I heard about the one pot of food for all the kids to share, the lack of electricity, classrooms with no supplies, bedrooms with missing mattresses, and the filth due to not having staff or supplies to clean the place. I asked around to try to see what was needed the most at this orphanage. While food was a need that they always have, I wanted to do more. Educational materials were suggested which peaked my interest right away with my background in education and my great uncle's desire to help educate the youth in Ghana.

I set out that morning with Muna, who runs the Eban House and Daniel the AAI driver. I wanted to buy work books and school supplies. In Ghana, nothing is as easy as going to one store to get the needed items. One store had workbooks so we got a few hundred dollars in workbooks but they did not have school supplies so off we ent to a second store. They had some supplies but I really wanted to get hand held chalkboards or whiteboards like they have at Eban House. We were told they had those boards at the market so we headed that way. The market is an area where there are several streets of merchants. Picture the craziest swapmeet you have ever been too and just multiply everything by a lot. So after getting into the market and to the area where we were told the boards were- no boards.

So now we needed to get the rice so we went and picked up a big bag along with some cooking oil and headed towards Kasoa. Our last stop was to get as much water as we could fit in our large passenger van. We do that last and close to Kasoa because we really weigh the van down with the water as Muna is gifted at filling the van and found room that I did not know existed to put more water!

So we arrive at Kasoa and several children come out to help unload the donation. While they were happy to see school books and food, the soccer balls were the most popular because after all, a kid is a kid. The largest portion of money that was donated to help those in Ghana went to the orphanage in Kasoa. This is a picture of the donation we made.

I was also informed that Auntie Rose who runs this orphanage has some medical issues but did not have money to go get help for herself. When meeting her it did appear that she needed to be seen by a doctor and so I spoke to her about going to the doctor and accepting a separate donation so that she could do so. I know this was hard for her to do but I emphasized that the children needed her to be healthy and at her best so she could help them. She seemed to understand.

The staff was very eager to show me around the orphanage. This was the hard part because seeing pictures is one thing but being there is another. I was there after a few days of rain and so every room was filled with standing water. To call the top of the building a "roof" is really a stretch as there was water everywhere. The ladies kept asking for insect repellant and mosquito nets. I was so upset I didn't have any that I wanted to get back in the van and go get some immediately but if you saw the muddy roads we had to navigate to get to the orphange door, you realized that we were already granted a gift from God to have made it there without getting stuck once and I didn't know if we would get a miracle twice. Note: I did end up giving money to a family that went to Kasoa right after I did and asked that they try to get some insect repellent and nets.
This is the outside, I just couldn't get over all the standing water. My mind immediately went to all the mosquitos this standing water is breeding.

This is the kitchen where they make food for up to 50 children.

This is where the children eat. There was so much water on the ground in this room that you really could not go back and sit at the tables, it was too deep.

This is the boys room. Not all beds have mattresses, a few have mosquito nets that are ripped and basically ineffective. These boys don't know any different, they were proud of their room. I think they are happy to have a place to lay their head at night.



This man is the science teacher. He spoke to me of how happy he was to teach the children science but asked if I could help him to get beakers and things for experiments. He only has what he is showing her but really wants to teach the kids by showing them an experiment.

Here are a few of the classrooms...






A final thought....While going through the process to adopt Selina, I was constantly on boards with others that have adopted from Africa. I noticed immediately that these families seem to almost be addicted to adopting. No sooner do they bring a child home than they are back working on adopting another one. I thought this was kind of crazy- how can people care for so many children? Now I know.

There are 148 million orphans in the world. One hundred and forty eight million orphans. When you see Kasoa and the children there, you can't help but to look at your house. When you look at the bedroom that these children sleep in and you look at your child's room you can't help but think, "how many more can I fit in this room?"

I no longer think it is crazy to want to adopt more children. I know what an orphan looks like, I know how they live and I see that there is nothing different between the children that were in front of me on this day and the children I gave birth to except for the situation they were born into. To my friends and family that have not adopted, you may see us and think, how can they care for another child as working parents, how will they afford another child? The truth is... these children need homes and when they are adopted and go to new homes, they thrive- we believe that every thing else will work itself out.

I am happy to report that several of the children in the picture with me have been moved to Eban House and are in the process of being adopted right now. I want to close by showing you some of these children that have already been adopted that lived in Kasoa for a period of time. Their awesome mothers (thank you Heather and Amy) allowed me to share with you that they are from Kasoa and I do so because I got to know these children when I was in Ghana and I love them and am so excited that they are home and transitioning into their new lives...


This sibling group of four was one that when I first heard about them, I so hoped they would find a home quickly but thought it would be hard for AAI to find a family to add four children at once. When they did find a family for them, I thought, "How lucky are these children" After meeting these children, my thoughts changed to "How fortunate for this family to be blessed with these four beautiful children". The youngest little guy was with Selina most of the time at Eban House as they are the same age- they were so cute together and it was so fun to watch them interact. See more of these kiddos here.


Sweet Williams as everyone calls him. He was so good to Selina when she came into the home. The staff told me that when she was learning to walk and would fall, Williams would pick her up. I saw him help her and be kind to her so many times while we were in Ghana. I am so happy that he is home now and with his family. See him with his new family here.

Thank you again for all that donated to make my trip to Kasoa and the donations I was able to make from all of us while there possible.

I'm hiding from the rest of my house...

I am. It is 10:45 at night and I am supposed to be cleaning my house right now. Instead, I am sitting here at the computer which faces a corner so I can't see behind me. Truth is, I don't feel like cleaning. My house is too messy and I don't know where to start so tonight I have decided not to.

Why am I cleaning at 10:45pm on a Thursday? Because Olivia comes in ten hours. Olivia assists me with keeping the house clean. I am fortunate in that she comes for four hours twice a month- just enough to do some deeper cleaning to help me keep up since I work outside the home and there are simply not enough hours in the week for me to do it all. I won't pretend to be a great mom, wife, employee and housekeeper- I recognize when I need help...

I always tell people that I clean before she comes so she won't quit but she has been helping me on and off for over 14 years now and no matter what I do, she doesn't quit. I think she gets a kick out of me and is always interested to see what I am up to. Plus she knows my dirty secrets including all the hidden stashes of crap I need to go through and that I simply can't live without her. A few times over the years, when I have been home when she arrived, I have greeted her with a big hug and tears in my eyes as I thanked her over and over again for completing me. I have seriously said that to her along with "You make me a better mother." How many times has your employer made you feel so appreciated and loved?

So I will be leaving to work as she arrives tomorrow and I will apologize and tell her about my crazy week and let her know that my fall break is coming up and I promise to take some of my crap to GoodWill so it will be safer and cleaner in my home in two weeks. I also have a Starbucks card for her so hopefully I will be forgiven...

Okay on to the post so important that I am engaging in work advoidance...

So I suddenly felt inadequate after seeing Chalene's post with all her kids videos. So I have to do something here...Seeing that it is now 11:15 and my kids are sleeping, I can't do a video of all the kids but I had been attempting to get a video of Selina singing. It is hard to do it when she is alone as she likes to look at herself on the camera which leads to her walking towards the camera and grabbing it in all my video attempts. The other day when I was in line to pick up the kids from school, we were singing and I realized that I can video her when she is restrained (stapped into the car seat). So here we are singing an Eban House favorite "Jesus Love" Please note that I am singing with a different accent on purpose- I am attempting to sound more like they do in Ghana. Being off key just comes naturally to me...



Okay, this isn't even her best singing but she has come so far from having NO WORDS when I met her in May!

A few recent pics...
Cater at her first karate tournament with her big trophy. Kman did karate too this summer but did not pose with his trophy as they were late for a DBacks baseball game and he just wanted to go...


Kman was in a soccer tournament this weekend and his team took third in their group. It was a tough tournament and we were proud of our goalie!


My awesome coworkers threw Selina a shower and we all laughed as she almost fell in this bag getting out the toy in there!

Welcome Ryan...

Is that the sweetest picture ever???!!!
Ryan Martin entered the world on Friday weighing in at 9lbs 7 oz! Yikes!!
I am an aunt again!! I am so excited to have a second nephew and only wish that he was not across the country!
Congratulations Kristin, Gray and Tyler...We are all so happy for you!

The last of the donation money....

is spent! So here is the story...

It took over three months and a few emails but I have been able to move forward and Albert will be getting an artificial arm!

Ever since meeting Albert briefly the day after seeing the Orthopedic Center in Nsawam, I have felt that I really needed to look into getting him help. Albert is a student at the same free school that Selina was at for a short period of time before entering the adoption center. This school is run by Percy of our adoption agency (he wears many hats). I was told that Albert was very self conscious about his arm.

Prior to leaving Ghana, I was able to talk to Brother Tarcisius who runs the center and he said that he would take Albert in at the center and make him an arm if I am able to pay for it and if Albert will have support in his life to help him with his new arm.

I informed Percy of this before leaving Ghana. I also emailed him when I returned to America but did not hear back from him. About two weeks ago, I was about to give up when I decided to email his brother Edward (who was my driver while I was in Ghana). Edward took me to Nsawam when I was in Ghana and saw the center and met Brother with me. Edward emailed back immediately and agreed to take Albert to the center for evaluation the following Monday.

Last Monday Albert was to go to the center with Edward and his teacher Gifty. As things tend to be in Ghana, it wasn't easy. Brother never emailed me back when I tried to let him know that Albert was coming so I was concerned the Edward would take him and Albert would not be evaluated. On Sunday evening I found Brother's phone number and so I called Edward (actually spoke to Percy as he answered) and gave him the number. It was great to talk to Percy and to know that he is also excited about this. I was nervous all day Monday wondering if it all would work out until I got this email...

I was there this morning with Albert and Gifty Albert's teacher and were told Tarcisius has stroke so we could not see him. Since we don't have any appointment we have to join a long cue and finally Albert was seen around 5pm. Some measurements was taken and an amount of $700 before they will start working on him. As soon as the payment is made we have to go back for them to work on the plaster. if that is done he will be admitted for a for them to fix his hand. I will scan the bill and send it to you tomorrow.

They feel he will be a fine candidate for an arm and estimated the cost for the arm and for him to live at the center for a month or two to learn how to use it would be $700. Thankfully, I have enough left to cover this as well as the cost for Edward to transport him back and forth from the center at least four times to complete the process. The center is a few hours away.

Given what I was told about Albert's history, I was not sure if he would have family support to help with his new arm or that he fully would understand what is going on. I have spoken to the center and emailed back and forth with Edward and am no longer concerned. In fact, I was blessed with the following email on Tuesday...

About six family members of Albert were in my house this morning to thank me and they ask me to tell you that God Richly Bless you for what you are doing for Albert, and they are very grateful. They said the Almighty should bless you in all areas of your life. Brother Tascisius is still in Ghana and hospitalized in the room next to his office, I spoke to him on phone and said he is doing fine. Yes the family will be able to help him with his new arm. It is okay with me to take Albert to the hospital...

On Tuesday this email was the sign I needed from God to proceed with this. I spoke to Sister Elizabeth from the center on Friday and she confirmed every thing and I told her that I would be covering the cost of this with donation monies I had received. Elizabeth requested that Albert go back to the center on Monday (today) to get measured and for more evaluation. She is leaving to Holland with Brother Tarcisius who is doing much better following his stroke. He will be seen by doctors there and they will bring back some items needed in particular for Albert's arm as he will require some imported parts!

So I can't tell you how excited I am that this is working out!! This is due to all of you listed at the top of this page that donated monies for me to use to help others in Ghana. Thank you for trusting me with such generous donations! Now that all the money is spent, I will be doing another post sharing my last story of where another large portion of the money went.

Part of doing this for Albert, I was told that the arm he receives will last about five years and then he will need an adult arm that he will have the rest of his life. This adult sized arm will be more complicated and will cost considerably more (closer to $2000). I have already committed to the center that if Albert uses his arm and they feel he would benefit from the adult arm, that I will pay for it. I would hate to have people wonder what is going to happen next for him and so in five years, I hope to be having a fundraiser for Albert!!

I also sent Edward an email asking how Albert felt about this and if he understood what was happening and that he would be leaving his family to live alone in the center with all the other children that are learning how to use their new limbs (there are currently 50 children in the children's center) and he said this...

Albert knows what is going on he is very happy about it, I heard he told the classmates that very soon an arm will be fix for him and they were all happy for him.

So there you have it... I can't tell you how pleased I am that this is working out. I am so thankful for all that donated money and for Edward for helping Albert see this through. I feel this was really worked out so well as many of you that donated specifically mentioned wanting to donate to something that was tied to Selina. To be able to help another child from her school that lives in the same neighborhood that she did and that is from the same tribe is a perfect way to honor her roots. Thank you for this and I look forward to updating you in the future on Albert's progress.

The Smile Award

Heather nominated me for The Smile Award. So in nominating me for the Smile Award, Heather said the following:

Jen went to Ghana to pick up her little girl and did so much good while she was there. She uses her blog for the powers of good by spreading the word about things like breast cancer and needs in Ghana, but she also shares the joys of parenting a newly adopted toddler.

Thank you Heather- you are so kind! It is Heather though who is awesome! She is also incredibly patient as who else would talk to me on the phone for hours (did I mention that my analytical abilities and attention to detail are a relative strength for me?) answering my questions about what to expect in Ghana. I also love that when adopting her daugher M, Heather took advantage of the opportunity to travel around Ghana to get to know the country that her beautiful daughter is from and am so happy that she also has a love for Ghana and the people there.

So back to the Smile Award: The smile award is a fun little blog award. In short someone makes up something and awards a few people and then they award a few people and so on and so on and so on....kind of like chain emails!:-)

Characteristics for the Smile Award:
1. Must display a cheerful attitude.
2. Must love one another.
3. Must make mistakes.
4. Must learn from others.
5. Must be a positive contributor to blog world.
6. Must love life.
7. Must love kids.

These are the rules for The Smile Award.
1. The recipient must link back the the award’s creator
2. You must post these rules if you receive the award.
3. You must chose 5 people to receive the award after receiving it yourself.
4. You must fit the characteristics of the recipient of the award, as posted by Mere.
5. You must post the characteristics of a recipient
6. You must create a post sharing your win with others.
7. You must thank your giver.

So. . . what fun and a great opportunity to share some of blogs that make me smile.

People I’d like to give this award to:
Kiara at Andy and Kiara http://andykiara.spaces.live.com
Kiara is incredible. She is a mom to five including children through fostering and domestic adoption, having added two or three within the last year (sometimes you lose count)! She is the reason that you have seen beads in Selina's hair as she teaches classes on caring for black hair and skin. She is a moderator in a local adoption group and she plans so many events for us and is truely inspirational. I have many new friends in the adoption community and my children will grow up with other transracial families because of what Kiara has started.

Erica at The Road Less Traveled http://thisshubinclan.blogspot.com/
or their adoption blog A Journey of Our Hearts http://journeyofourhearts.blogspot.com
I met Erica at a weekend adoption class last June and have been following her blogs ever since. I love her family and her passion for adoption. Erica is strong in her faith and that she is always encouraging others and sharing her knowledge and adoption experience with others. She is always quick to congratulate someone or encourage them on the different groups we are both on. I also happen to be in love with her new little man Silas who is simply the coolest and cutest little guy ever!

Nikki at Blogs for a Cause http://www.madebynikki.blogspot.com/ or Ends of the Earth at http://www.endsforyou.blogspot.com
I want to be as generous and philanthropic as Nikki when I grow up (oh yea, she is much younger than me)! She is a student that has a passion for helping children in the Dominican Republic. She has traveled there a few times and does amazing things and the way she connects with others is beautiful. She also designs blogs with a portion of the proceeds helping to fund her trips to the Dominican Republic as well as a worthwhile charity that she chooses to help each month. She designed my blog and I just LOVE it.. I only wish I knew then what I know now as I would have loved to have done more to help others in Africa when I was much younger as Nikki does now...

Whymommy at Toddler Planet http://toddlerplanet.wordpress.com
I have read this blog for awhile. Whymommy is a survivor of Inflammatory Breast Cancer. I love what she has done to bring awareness to breast cancer and how she has helped so many by sharing her story. She has brought so many women together. Being that I am passionate about fighting breast cancer and have done the 3 Day Walk a few times, I read several blogs of women who are battling this cancer. I just so admire whymommy for being so real and for sharing the good and the bad. I don't know what it is like to have breast cancer and I don't know what my friends that have it go through but I feel that I get a closer glimpse into their experience by keeping up with whymommy. She is one amazing mommy...

Ginny at The Westerby's Are Ready For One More Crazy.. at http://westerbywhatsup.blogspot.com
Ginny and her husband Ben have three children and are in the process of adopting a sweet little girl from Ghana. I am really enjoying following her story. Okay, so this is the smile award and Ginny has said something that I think is so incredibly cleaver that no matter how many times I hear it, I smile.... here it is...

Ben frequently describes life with three young kids as 'crazy'. On one particularly chaotic day during the time we were thinking about adopting, Ben turns to me and says, "Do you see this? This is crazy...how much more crazy can we handle?" To which I replied, "Just one more crazy."

This was so fun... I hope you get a chance to check out these blogs that make me smile...

PS- Come back soon for an Albert update... I am working on it now and am so excited!