Sunday, March 20, 2011

Thanking God....

For all of my blessings!  To name just a few I'll start with the earthquake last night.  4.4 magnitude and I never felt a thing.  Thank you God for keeping us safe and not letting it be like the one in Japan.
My friend is sitting in a hospital with her 17 year old son waiting for him to have lung surgery because he's now considered chronic for spontaneous pneumothorax.  He's had 2 inside the last 9 months.  I know how that Mum feels not being able to take away her son's pain.  As mothers that's our greatest wish and our greatest inability.  We can't take our children's pain away even though we'd give anything to be able.

I'm so thankful that my special needs children are comparatively healthy.  I rarely have to experience the helpless feeling of not being able to take away my children's pain.  Thank you God for giving me healthy children.

I'm thankful for my husband who knows me inside and out and understands me in all my moods. Thank you God for giving me a partner in this life who loves you like I do.

I'm thankful for my family.  My mother, my sister, my brother and all of their counterparts.  Each one of them holds a special place in my heart no matter what our relationship is at any given moment.

I'm thankful for my friends.  God has given me a bushel of friends who accept me for who I am and whom I accept for who they are.  Some are travelling a similar path through adoption, some are here in my present from my past, some are here for my future.  No matter what the timing of their arrival in my life (or possibly their departure) I'm thankful for each and every one of them.

Having read my friends blog about her and her son in hospital, I realized that today is my Thanksgiving.  I need to remember to have Thanksgiving everyday.

Today is another special day.  It's my nephew's birthday.  It's the first day of Spring.  What a wonderful day!
Thank you God for this day.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Happy St. Patty's Day....

Today has been a wonderful day.  It's St. Patrick's day.  It's my beautiful cousins birthday and her name happens to be Patty.  Well Patricia to most, but to me she's always been Patty.

Patty is just 4 months older than myself but so much more wise and street smart.  Patty and I are cousins.  Not by birth, but by adoption of sorts.  Our mothers have been friends since they were young girls and Patty and I grew up together, and then drifted apart for many years and then found each other again just this past November.

Patty is here in my hometown now.  She's on her own and figuring out her life.  Patty has had an interesting life.  Many ups and downs, some of which most of us only see movies about.  Here she is back in my life and making things interesting.  My boys love her, and that lets me know that she's OK now.  My boys are very wary of strangers and she is a stranger to them.  But they aren't wary of her at all.  They are head over heels in love with her.  She walks in the door and play time comes alive!  Patty is a well rounded adult who embraces her inner child and gives in to the whimsy she sees in my kids.

So today is Patty's birthday.  We had a lunch time party for her.  I don't think I have ever seen such pure, unadulterated joy on an adults face as I saw on hers.  The pure love and appreciation that she gave us in return for our love in celebrating her birthday can never be out done by anyone.

My Mum and her fiancĂ©e, my 2 boys, and myself had a lovely lunch, shared in a wonderful chocolate cake, and sang happy birthday to her.  We had fun.  She enjoyed her cards and her gifts.  But most of all she enjoyed being with us.  Her adopted family.  It was truly a wonderful day.  The greatest gift today was the one I received.  I received the gift of love from my family.  I missed my husband being with us because he had to work, but just being able to provide a day of fun and family for one who is missing her family, was just the best gift anyone could have given me.

The old adage it's better to give than to receive is true, but the joy one receives from giving of oneself just makes it seem like an oxymoron.  I don't think there truly is such a thing as an unselfish act.  When you give of yourself the pure joy you get is the best gift of all.

So look around you; those we call family aren't necessarily those who were born to us.  Most of us have family that are born to us but the people we cherish and love the most are those we choose to have in our lives.  We adopt those 'family' members who aren't born to us.  Blood doesn't make you family, love does.

Who's in your family?

Friday, March 11, 2011

Our Journey continues...

So once again, it's been awhile.  So much is going on.  There's 3 children...possibly.  My computer crashed yesterday.  My Mum is getting married...but you knew that.  Second term of home school is finished.  The 2 year old is gaining speech daily.  We were under a tsunami warning.

So, my computer crashed.  I was devastated!  My whole life is on my computer and I was certain that my hubby had destroyed my life.  Well not my life but all my business, volunteer business for the AFA BC, my personal business etc.  All of my pictures of my kids are on here too!  That was the part I was most scared of.  I was terrified I'd lose all the pictures of my babies.  But thanks to a local computer repair shop my 'life' was saved!  I couldn't be more grateful.  The young man came to my house at 9:30 this morning and returned my computer at 5:00pm this evening!  And the price was so right.  He did an amazing job and all my 'business' is fully intact.  My computer is running better than it ever has too!  So thank you for the fantastic service and wonderful job, well done!

My mum is getting married.  I know I told you about that before.  But it's getting exciting.  Plans are moving forward and everyone knows their jobs and the food is pretty much all planned out.  We're on our way.  Mum's day is going to be beautiful, just like her!

So today we were under a tsunami warning/advisory.  I wasn't worried about that too much because the big wave we were expecting had come and gone very uneventfully by 7:00am today.  But what did and does have me worried is the cause of the tsunami warning.  Japan got hit with an 8.9 earthquake today/last night.  Devastating!  Then a few hours after the tidal wave hit them, they had another 6.? earthquake.  Those poor people.  I've been praying all day for the Japanese and all who were there.  I haven't heard about a death toll yet and I'm scared it's going to be very high.  I know people are going to be devastated by the material loss (I would be too) but it's the human loss that has me upset.  We can replace our material possessions but we can't replace our loved ones.  So if you're reading this go gather your loved ones and hug them tight and tell them how much you love them.  You never know when it might be the last time.  Morbid, I know, but necessary.  We don't tell our loved ones that we love them enough.  Remember to do it daily.

On to something more pleasant.  The second term of the school year has come to a close today.  We have to hand in all our son's work on Monday.  I'm so proud of my boy.  He has worked hard and learned so much more than he would have this year if we'd left him in his public school.  Now don't misunderstand me, we are not saying that the school was at fault, just that the system is lacking when it comes to varying the way they teach children who learn differently.  Besides that aspect we've needed this year to help our son develop coping skills for his anger and frustration.  Emotions that are triggered very easily for him.  So we've got his emotions under control as well as his ability to recognize the signs they are coming and he can now remove himself from situations and practice his coping skills.  I'm so very proud of him!

  Maybe 3 babies.  Our worker has informed us that there may be 3 little ones that could be a match for us.  There is part of the birth family that is being studied but if that doesn't pan out the children's worker will contact our worker and see if we are a fit.  So while I pray for the people of Japan, I also pray that these precious babies will go to the home that is best for them.  Does it sound like my hopes are up?  Nope they're not.  I've been doing this a long time and I know that when it's meant to be it will be.  I have learned how to stay firmly planted on terra firma.

Well, that's it for now.  I'm off to have a nice dinner with my hubby and enjoy our quiet evening together.
Until next time...