Sunshine Day

Sidney asked me to share her picture.  After spending an hour in the basement yesterday for weather this was a cheerful reminder today is another day to be thankful for my house, our good health, and the few limbs down in our yard.

Cousins on a summer day....

It's so special that Sidney has a cousin from China. 10 year old AnDee has a spunky spirit that reminds me of an older Sidney. My heart was full after I heard that the oldest in the swing Ashtyn asked immediately when she showed up when Aunt Cara was coming.  Meanwhile, her sister Adysyn is hard to miss modeling a different piece of everyones jewlery at the cookout.

Pool Rats

One sunburn later, and we have returned from the public pool. I'm the mom lathering with SPF 70, , so as horrified to see Eli's skin. Meanwhile Sidney is prancing around with darker skin than yesterday despite slathering her in the same lotion. Asian skin is a magnet for the sun, but I take care of her skin the same way. I always think about our visit to China when I think of skin and the cultures belief that fair skin is somehow superior. If you're dark it's mean you were somehow inferior having worked in the field. I can't stand this kind of stigma. Totall bologna. 

Toothpaste and Line Test

Eli did an awesome job paddle boarding. 

A week ago Thursday...I am hunkered down in a cabin in northern Wisconsin, enjoying our third visit to this particular location. We get no cell reception! Apart from the many bugbites, it was great. Eli is always loaded with random information and informed me that tooth paste will help itching bites. In despiration, I tried it. It dried it out and gave much needed relief.  

Our first day it northern Wisconsin was cold!

Eli loved all the paddle boarding and kayaking. Had it not been for the life jacket I would not have allowed him to go out into the lake. There's no room for error in water. I'm a decent swimmer, so I am encouraging him this summer to work on real swimming and treading water. He had a negative situation with a life guard at the local pool once, and though he won't admit it, he's afraid. 

My poor baby had a mosquito bite on her eye in this picture, and on the same night her mother was also attacked in the same place!

Sidney was really into fishing this year. She told us the first day she wanted to catch a large mouth bass. Something about seeing them on Wild Kr*tz. 20 minutes later she caught one on her D*ra pole which looked like it was ready to snap like kindling.  

Open our eyes Tom!

Tom caught a similar fish. 
It was by Sidney's feet in the boat. I was bracing myself for her reaction. Instead she calmly observed while picking up a basket which was over half her height,"It sure is floppy." She loves the show Wild Kr*tz, so she was excited to see one in person. 

Back It Up

I meant to share this a long time ago! Sidney became involved in Girl Scout Daisies this year with me as the fearless leader of 11 girls. Our outing was the police station. Sidney loved when the officer let them push the buttons on the siren! 

Memorial Day Musings

lE

Eli turned 12 over the weekend! He would NOT be pleased about me saying this, but my baby has grown up! Frankly, it's a bit hard to take that he will be a teenager next year, but I've found as a mother this is a fun phase. Self-sufficient with a great sense of humor and brains which were only created from the extreme recesses of the gene pool, leaving us to question how this came from us? We've determined adoption was necessary, because we don't think we could have created this again. He's my content child only upset if he doesn't have enough down time. So our day was relaxed while he tried to understand why a cell phone is definitely not necessary as a birthday gift at this stage in his life just because EVERYBODY has one. 

While we relaxed on the holiday Monday we remembered the real reason we had the day off. I make a point of telling my kids to remember freedom is a gift that is a result of the sacrifices made by others. 

She is loved, she is great, and she is thriving...

As life maintained its frantic pace this week my thoughts were elsewhere. Every year I remember May 14th, and my thoughts drift to a place and time for which I have little information. As a adoptive mom of a child from China you never completely reach a place of contentment about not knowing the circumstances of the day your child was found, however you reach a place of acceptance. Sidney was found in Hospital No. 3 in Chenzhou by a security guard. This is the closest bit of information we have related to Sidney's birth family. 

That day has gone through my brain thousands of times, trying to find the words that allow me convey my thoughts. The problem is nothing can adequately portray something as tragic as the circumstances which forced someone to make this decision. It's horrific that she had an illness for which they could not treat according to our paperwork, however it makes the story easier to explain to Sidney. "You were sick, and they were trying to get help, so you could feel better and have a doctor to help you with your fingers." For now she's satisfied with the story and has few questions. I relish her simple understanding, because I know it won't always be that easy. The tough stuff is coming. We continue adding onto the story as she gets older.  

I still ponder what her birth parents might think about her life here. Accepted with her anomalies as no different than any of the other kids in her class. She is not warehoused in a place where her special needs are considered something that makes her intellectually challenged. Instead of being ostracized most people don't see what's visible, because she first overwhelms with her very outgoing nature. Could they comprehend what freedom means in her life? 

So on May 14th I will probably always think of them and wonder if they are surviving and wondering what ever became of this beautiful little miracle. Thankfully, I am content God has those answers.