Reunion Weekend Fun

Fun At The Colombia Reunion

¡Mañana!

TOMORROW IS THE BIG COLOMBIA REUNION!!!

We are SO excited!!!

When I woke the kids up this morning, Anji rubbed her eyes, sat up very slowly and then smiled & announced "tomorrow is the reunion!" The time has finally come! La familia Armstrong has waited all year for this reunion and we are going to have such a wonderful time getting to know all of the other families! If you are coming to the reunion, you won't be able to miss the five of us in our new LFA shirts! Otherwise, you'll see a picture of us in our new shirts soon!

The Month Ahead

Yesterday, we went to the zoo with another adoptive Mami and her three very sweet Colombian hijos. It was such a joy! We had a fantastic time! What a blessing!

I had a bunch of calls to make today including inquiring about registering the girls for school. I went to the site and read that school starts in a month. It seems so early!

I have enjoyed the time home with all three kids so much. We have fared well together through all the transitions - preparing to sell our house, living in the old house while Karl started the new job away from us, then living in cramped temporary housing while house hunting and house selling, and during all of the hub bub and busyness that went with that situation. We've now been in our new house for almost 2 months and the time here together has been even better. It has provided an opportunity for even more family bonding and time to invest in the kids. It will feel really weird when the girls go to school.

This next month before the girls start school is already packed full of activities and events including: a week-long business trip, Anji turning 7, our wedding anniversary, visits from family and friends, and (hopefully) squeezing in a mini-vacation. We will have to pack in as much as possible while we have the opportunity before school starts!

The Weekend Is Over

We had a nice weekend together. Karl was off work for a couple of days which made the weekend really special! The extra time as a family was such a blessing for each of us.

Today has been a blur because we got home so late because of fireworks - postponed a day due to inclement weather. The kids are still talking about the sheer delight of seeing the (whopping) 30 minutes of fireworks. I thought it was a dud and will never return to that town's firework show but the kids' excitement helps take the edge off my incredible disappointment. They are so sweet and easily pleased!

Anyways, we are all in a funk today since Papi went back to work. Andres asked when I woke him up "is Papi back to work?" and Claudia did the same when I woke her up this morning. Anji felt the same I am sure but immediately launched into "have you made your list yet? What do you think we could do today?" (That is a whole other topic I should blog about...are anybody else's niños turning out to be super-planners?!? Yikes! Now they are starting to ask me the night before what is on my "list!" List - what list?!?!) Anji wants to go out and keeps asking if there is anything we need to buy..."leche, ensalada, anything?"

We are dropping Karl's car off at a repair shop because his power windows are not working and one rolled down but will not go back up so I am going to take the kids over to the outdoor playland where they can have a blast and I will watch and enjoy as I sip my ice cold beverage (and jot notes for my new adoption book for kids) before we meet Karl to do the car drop-off. It will be good for all of us to get out for a while!

Better Weather and Adoption Books

Thankfully the terrible heat wave has subsided at least for a few days. Now we can get out and enjoy some parks and other outdoor fun. Yesterday we had fun doing sidewalk chalk and even an outdoor play place at McD's.

Here is something I have been thinking about lately: I have been looking at kids' books about adoption and they are just missing the mark for me. I am thankful that adoption books are available but most of them are geared towards a totally different situation than that from which our children come from. And half of the books that I have looked at so far have content that is inappropriate or even objectionable to me. I am really not finding much worth reading to the kids. I told Karl that I think I am going to write my own book. My only problem is that my illustrations would be awful! I could always have Anji and Claudia illustrate the story! I have plenty of ideas for meaningful content! Anyways, maybe I will create a new adoption book that is especially geared for siblings and/or a child adopted from Latin America and if others wanted to share the book with their children, they could make donations to help bring home our next batch in the future.

The Lifebook situation is a hard one. I think ONE Lifebook would be intimidating - but THREE? Wow. It is hard to imagine ever getting it done. Oh, I know the books can be added to but at some point I would want to sort of complete them! I have been reading the book about Lifebooks and it is heavy-duty and emotionally draining. This book seems more geared towards infant adoptions which are very different than our family story. I think what I better do so I don't totally get hung up on "doing it right" is just start the general framework that each of the kids' books share and just follow my own intuition and then if I have questions I can always read up and fill in stuff as I go.

It has already been a year and a half and time together as a family is passing so quickly. I need to start them and just work on them a little each week. I know myself - this project will probably take an entire year but I know that once I start it, I will enjoy it.

Re-creating the kids' story will not only bless them in the future but will certainly bless me as I work on it. My heart pounds for adoption. Working on these books will give me time to think about the preciousness of adoption and remind me of God's faithfulness to Karl and me and to our children. We not only adopted them but they adopted us! The Lord Jesus Christ is the author of love and He has taught us how to love. He is the one who has made our bond of love possible. If it were solely up to us, this family would have been ship-wrecked! Anyway, gracias a Dios for His unfailing love. Because He never leaves us we will never abandon each other. Their story is interwoven with His story and I am excited to start this challenging endeavor!

One thing that would surely make this process easier & more enjoyable would be a Lifebook Buddy! Local or long-distance - someone to work on these books at the same time and check in with each other and share ideas, progress and even struggles as we work on this project. Now that would make all the difference! If you would like to commit to being a Lifebook Buddy, please let me know. The Lifebook Bus is ready to take off!