New Header!

As you can see, I've followed my sister into the world of Photoshop and digital scrapbooking. I dragged my feet for a long time, but I had a lot of fun making my new header this morning. (Thanks for your help, P!) I'm hoping to use my new software to work on a Life Book for J-Man. Kind of like a storybook connecting his life before adoption to his life after adoption. A complete narrative that he can hold in his hands. Thanks to the internet, I've already found pictures of the small town in Russia where he was born, what the weather was like that day and a variety of other stuff. I'm looking forward to getting started!

Robins!!!

The kids just about jumped out of their skins this morning when I suddenly screamed "ROBINS!!!" while driving to an appointment. The sighting brought some joy to an otherwise blah morning. I Love Spring!

Quinoa

Anybody else tried out this tasty little grain? We've been eating it in a wheat-substitute pasta for quite some time now. In an effort to vary our grain intake, I decided to try it out as a side dish. It can be used similarly to rice and is very high in protein. The kids all thought it was great. Highly recommended.

Wrestling with Myself

I've been attending a group therapy session for moms raising J-Man-like children. There are 8 of us, and its shaping up to be a very helpful activity. I was a little skeptical at first because I'm not a group person. Those of you who know me, know that I'd rather head off for a quiet weekend alone than spill my guts to a group of strangers. But I think we're all so desperate for someone to understand what our lives are like, that we've started to bond quite quickly. Its a relief to have somewhere to say the really ugly things that you keep swept under the rug and have other people nod their heads in understanding and agreement.

So as a part of this therapy, we've been working on our Internal Working Models. Essentially, how you view yourself and the world, and the expectations of yourself and others that you bring to the party based on your past experiences. We've been spending a lot of time digging through our pasts to try to draw out what makes us respond to our children the way we do. It has left me somewhat raw, but it has also been freeing. In uncovering my motivations, I'm now able to confront them and work toward consciously replacing them with healthy attitudes and responses. I've always been a fairly self aware person (the therapist even said so!) but it turns out that there's a bunch more bubbling under the surface that I hadn't worked through.

Of course, there are several lessons for me to learn here, but I think the main one is that, even in the midst of yuckiness, God intends good for me. I don't think I would have ever worked so hard on myself if it wasn't for the sake of a child. In the long run, I hope to come out of this a healthier, happier person. God is definitely at work!

Hunting the Elusive Wii

A couple of weeks back the husband and I decided (for a variety of reasons, but mostly because the kids drive me nuts in the winter) that we were going to buy a Wii Fit. Now, I knew nothing about these things. Including the fact that they are extremely hard to come by. I had some Walmart gift cards to dispose of, so I wandered in one day last week fully expecting to come out with a Wii in tow. Silly old me.

After a little research on the internet I discovered my error. I stumbled upon a site called Zoolert (which I recommend) that tracks the stock of hard to find items (such as the Wii console and the Wii Fit game). Last night, after stalking my prey for about a week, I finally completed my package. Just in time, since the husband was starting to accuse me of being one of those "Cabbage Patch Moms" from back when we were kids. I really don't think it was that bad. Its not like I trampled anyone or anything.

So now we just have to sit and wait for the pieces to arrive from various retailers. I feel a certain sense of victory that I didn't cave and pay twice as much as I should on eBay and yet, I'm missing the thrill of the hunt this morning. Perhaps I should get back to book buying, where the victories are cheaper!

Project

While the husband has been home sick and able to help the kids with school a bit, I've had time to do a little creative project. I came upon a couple of sayings and a bible verse that all have "dance" or "dancing" in them. I bought the frames at Ikea, tea stained the included mats and used Microsoft Publisher to arrange the text. I'm quite pleased with the result!

A Word of Advice

You should never tell your sick husband that he's being a big baby until you're sure that he doesn't have pneumonia.