two for one

Pinterest tells me I need to use a oil drip pan as a magnetic board.  Pinterest is right, I totally do.  I hear you can find these oil drip pans at walmart, not the walmart near me, and I didn't care to do an extensive search, so I just hit the amazon.  If I can't find it at amazon, then I really don't need it.  $10 and a few days later the drip pan is on my doorstep, along with some new magnetic letters.  

oooo so shiny

To the left of the magnetic board is a little organizer that hangs on the wall.  It has a few other magnetic toys that used to live on the fridge.  Oliver can practice writing his sight words, and Lydia can practice throwing the letters on the floor and occasionally putting them back, occasionally. 

The bonus of online ordering is receiving boxes!  We made our box into a ball drop/ski ball game. 

Cut off the extra flap at the bottom.

Reinforce with some tape.
Saw a few ball sized holes.

I asked Oliver if he wanted to color it or number it, like a score board, he just wanted to play. 

Lydia dropping her ball in

rolling balls down

rolling balls up

3 years, happy family day!!

One moment I think, wow it's already been three years.  The next moment I think, wow it's only been three years.  It's funny how time can feel so fast and so slow all at the same moment.

Three years ago I had the up most pleasure of busting Oliver out of his orphanage.  I just re read my post from that day.  Some of the details I had since forgotten and am thankful that I blogged them all.  How I felt, how I think Oliver felt, and everything else.  Such a sweet time.  What I think about the most or remember the most is how brave Oliver was.  Who was I, just a stranger he's seen a few times.  Undressing him, and re dressing him in fresh clothes, speaking nice words that he didn't know and suddenly leaving everything he'd ever known to go give something different a try.  He was so brave.  He didn't cry or fuss...well I guess he was taught not to.  I didn't hear a peep from him until I tired to bathe torture him.

leaving!

We talk adoption with Oliver.  It's just something we never wanted him to be surprised about.  Gone are the days when you're 16 and you stumble upon some random paperwork and begin to question everything, at least those days better be gone.  I've heard stories of kids asking a lot of questions, kids, even kids adopted young, telling stories of life in the orphanage, asking about birth mothers, etc.  Oliver just doesn't question any of this, and never says anything about the orphanage, at least not yet.  However, just because he isn't asking about it doesn't mean we shouldn't be talking.  It's not something we discuss daily, but during this time of the year I try to help him work out the details of how it all came together, though I'm still amazed that it did.  The point I like to focus on most is that mommy and daddy knew you were a boy that was waiting for a family and we think being in a family is the best thing for a kid.  

On Oliver's family day we like to let him pick what he wants to do.  The first one we picked an indoor play place and he pick hamburgers for dinner at Red Robin.  Last year he wanted to go out for pizza and ice cream at a local spot.  This year he has requested an afternoon at the science museum followed by dinner at Lidia's Itay, a really delicious Italian place....that's our boy.  I love his developing palate.  And we always swing by the European Food Market, which actually should be called The Russian Grocery, where Oliver picks out some of his favorite Russian treats...usually apple juice and chocolates. 

A few pictures from the year...

feb 2013

feb 2014

Oliver is our most favorite boy.  He is the perfect boy for us.  We look forward all the adventures to come.

done

We've been dealing with Russia since February 2010 when switched from Kazakhstan and accepted our referral.  We jumped through all the hoops required to adopt Oliver and as of tonight we have completed all the post placement requirements.

WE ARE DONE!

After our social worker left Jim says, that was awkward.  I thought it went fine.  He says he felt like he was being judged....yeah, that's the point. 

love

A simple little Valentine's Day painting activity.  Just card stock, painters tape, paint, and brushes.  We also have a dedicated mess cloth that we put under everything.  

painting invitation

Oliver was very excited to
see this when he got home

chubby toddler hand

dry

peel off tape

flatten

hang

 Jim says, "wow, those are noticeable, looks like a billboard."  Yeah, they are a little bright. 

resolution update

I suppose this is the time of the year that resolutions start slipping from your memory, goals seemed like a good idea, but their attainability seems to be slipping away.  That's why I had to stick with what I could manage and I had to make it public.

Here is the post if you need a reminder. 

1. Ditch maternity clothes.  Done.  All of them.  No more.

2. Get dressed.  Since writing the original post I have totally gotten dressed every single day.  Not in yoga pants, or leggings, but actual clothes.  I have a uniform, that makes it simple.  I try to wake up a little bit before the kids, brush my teeth, make our bed, put on my uniform, and get to work.  I need to work do my hair somewhere into that, maybe next month, maybe.  

Uniform...
Pants
T-shirt or tank
Cardigan

3. Get bloggy.  5 posts or more each month

8!

4.  Get a daily schedule down and do more activities with the kids.  This is the hardest one and is going to be more of a work in progress.  I have done more activities with the children, this month I blogged about a cardboard house we made, some sponges we played with, and fun with vinegar and baking soda. 

I've been working on a cleaning schedule and using this post as my inspiration.  I love the idea of just always having a clean house, and this month our home as been looking much better (not that it was a disaster before).  I just had to make a choice to no go to bed until our home looks just the way I want it to. 

I have also kept up with the bible reading plan that Jim wanted to do.  Jim on the other hand....


**Bonus Achievement of the Month**

GOT A JOB!!

Instead of being a mom of two, from the hours of 8:30-5:30, I'm going to be a mom of three.  Such a perfect little job for us.  A little 6 month old is going to come over and play.  Lydia gets a partner in crime while Oliver is at school.  The little boy gets loving care.  Oliver met the boy during the interview and has been asking about him since, so apparently Oliver misses having a 6 month old around.  And my bank account gets a few dollars.  Winning all around.  Job starts February 10th.

How are your resolutions going? 









 

bonfire heart

This is the time of the year when I think most about adoption.  Oliver's three year family day is just around the corner and it always makes me stop and think about the journey.  The journey was hard.  It was joy filled.  It was sad.  It was an adventure.  And at times I was sure it wasn't going to work out. 

Lots of times I didn't have the words I needed, but would cry my eyes out when I heard certain songs on the radio or on my ipod.  Music just has this amazing way of expressing exactly how you're feeling, when you're not even sure how you are feeling. 

Sometime last year I heard James Bunt's song Bonfire Heart on the radio for the first time and went right home to download it.  I'm lucky this song wasn't out when I was in the process, there is no way I could make it through with a dry eye, I barely can now. 

Verse 2 is a perfect summery of Oliver waiting for us, and us fighting for him. 

"This world is getting colder.
Strangers passing by
No one offers you a shoulder.
No one looks you in the eye.
But I’ve been looking at you
For a long, long time
Just trying to break through,
Trying to make you mine

Everybody wants a flame,
They don’t want to get burnt
Well, today is our turn

...People like us—we don’t
Need that much, just some-
One that starts,
Starts the spark in our bonfire hearts"

The video is also pretty great.  It has Oliver's favorite things...
-a guy on a motor cycle
-getting pulled over by a police man
-a guy playing a guitar


I dare you to listen.  





 

the judge said yes...3 years ago

Three years ago a judge in a little Russian court room, in the middle of Siberia, said yes.

Yes, this boy can be yours.

Yes, you are ready to be parents. (we fooled her!)

 Yes, you successfully jumped through the million hoops necessary and this is the beginning of the end of this year long roller coaster of an adoption journey. 

Next step; wait 13 days, alone, in Kemerovo, then we'll take you back to the orphanage to Bust Him Out!

So thank you Russian judge, you're awesome.  However, the joy I feel on days like these come with a sting in the background as these kinds of stories aren't happening any longer.  Prayers that the Russian adoption ban with be lifted swiftly and these tales will begin spilling out again.