Happy Halloween!

Hope everyone has a fun, safe Halloween!
xoxoxox

#$%@ People Say To Transracial Families

This you tube video has been making the rounds on the adoption blogs. It is classic, and spot on. It was made by three adoptive moms. I have to say, I don't get questions or comments too very often when I'm out with Elizabeth but it does happen. Overall, I've been asked about 90% of the questions heard on this video. My favorite is "How much did she cost?" Really?

More Halloween fun, and Sandy

So, Miss E and I have an extra "home day" today, because of Hurricane Sandy. E's school and my work have both been called off. Here in the Boston area, the heavy rain and winds are supposed to hit around mid day. Right now, at about 7:45am, it's rainy, but doesn't look especially windy out yet. I'm just hoping that everyone stays safe, and also that we don't lose power. But if we do, we can always rely on E's handy dandy Hello Kitty battery operated lantern. I am sooo ready for this storm...;)

 

Yesterday, our town had it's annual big Halloween parade. They hold it rain or shine, and yesterday was definitely rain and no shine.  It was cold and drizzly the whole time, but we had fun. E scored lots of candy, and hugs from Pooh Bear, Tigger, Minnie and Mickey Mouse :)

 

 

 

We went to a Halloween party on Saturday (thanks, Misty and Paden!), where E got to wear her Dorothy costume again. This costume has already gotten dirty and washed once and it's not even Halloween yet!

Everyone stay safe if you live in the path of Hurricane Sandy...xoxoxoxo

Halloween Party # 1

Tonight was the first of several fun Halloween events my little Dorothy and I will be participating in over the next several days. E's school held a Halloween party/dance. And wow, did she dance! I didn't get any great pictures (I have to stop being lazy and start using my actual camera, instead of just always relying on my phone camera). Anyway, E had a great time, and was so excited to see her friends and dance to the loud music that was playing. Watching her rock out to "Call Me Maybe" with her friends was priceless. I couldn't help but fast forward in my mind to when she's a teenager and partying with her BFFs...Yikes!!

I loved watching her and seeing how much she seems to love her school, and her classmates.  :)

 

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Diwali

Elizabeth and her buddy Wasan a few weeks ago

In our apartment building, there is a very sweet family which recently moved here from India, They have a five year old little boy, Wasan, who goes to E's school. The two have gotten to be good friends and enjoy playing together out back after school. On Tuesday evening, Wasan's Mom came by and tried to ask me somethig. However, the language barrier was pretty significant, as she speaks very little English, and I speak no Hindu. But I managed to understand that she wanted to come by early the next moring with some "food" and "gifts" for Elizabeth. I was a little confused as to why she wanted to do this, but I said sure. So the next morning, Wasan and his parents showed up with a very sweet platter of food and little gifts for E. I was very touched and thought it was such a sweet gesture, and they explained to me that it was an Indian custom. I wanted to find out more about this custom, so I asked my supervisor at work, who has two adopted daughters from India, if she knew anything about this. She did, and explained to me that it is called Diwali, and is a major holiday in India. I feel really bad that I didn't "get it" when they came by. It must be so hard to be in a totally different culture and want to celebrate an important holiday and no one else around you really understands.

Scenes from a fall weekend :)

All ready for a party on Saturday afternoon

At a friend's birthday party on Sunday am

Playing in the leaves :)

In a corn maze with Paden

Boo!

E and Paden checking out the pumpkins

Silly kids at dinner :)

PS: Please vote for me on Top Mommy Blogs by clicking on the brown banner above. That's all you have to do to vote, and you can do it once a day...Thanks so much!! xoxoxoxoxo

A open letter to all Mainers who plan to vote No on Question 1

Ok, I never get political on this blog. But in this case, I just can't keep my mouth shut. No worries, we will soon be back to our regularly scheduled programing of Elizabeth cuteness :)

To all those in Maine who plan to vote "No" on Question 1 this November...my question is...why?? Ok, so you don't "believe in" same sex marriage. But why do you want to actively deny other people the same rights that you enjoy? Are you married? Do you get happiness and pleasure from being married to the person you love? That is great. Other people would like the right to have that, too. Allowing gay people the right to be married does nothing to hurt you or your marriage. In short, what's it to you? If you don't believe in gay marriage, then don't marry someone of your own gender. But don't vote to prohibit others from marrying the person they love.
To those who protest that the Bible, and God, and Jesus, etc, etc...all say that "marriage should be between a man and a woman"...Honestly...the Bible also says we should have slaves and beat our children. Does anyone really want to do those things? Didn't think so. As for God...the God I believe in is all about love. God loves us all. He is not about discrimination, or judgment. And Jesus? Well, he was a pretty cool guy, and I am pretty sure he would be ok with same-sex marriage. My feeling is- he would not be cool with the marginalization of a particular group of people, especially when his name is used as a rationale for discrimination against this group.
So...if you vote "No" on prop 1, you are saying that it's ok to invalidate the relationships between two adults. You are saying that your heterosexual relationship is more valid and "better" than that of the same loving, committed relationship between two men or two women. You are saying that your family is more valid.  No. I say that when there is love and commitment, that is "valid".
I have no expectation that this short little tirade has changed anybody's mind. You are going to vote how you are going to vote. I'm just asking you to please, think a little before you do. And maybe, if you really can't bring yourself to vote "yes" on Question 1, maybe just don't vote at all.

She would live on Fried Rice if I let her...

One of E's favorite things to do is go to the mall and have Fried Rice from the food court. We don't do this too often, so it's a special treat for her when we do. My girl loves Fried Rice...I'm sure people thought it was weird that I was taking pictures of my kid while she's just trying to eat some dinner in the middle of the food court. What can I say? I'm such a slave to this blog:)

In other news: I'm so excited- my friend Heidi has made a Dorothy costume for E for Halloween, it should be arriving in the mail shortly! Thank you Heidi, we love you! Can't wait to see her in it!! Her school will be having a parade on Halloween morning, and the kids are allowed to wear their costumes all day. Fun!

Speaking of school...I was not prepared for the vast quantities of papers that E brings home everyday! This includes worksheets that she has done during the day, plus notices sent home for the parents (usually related to some fundraising event).  I love looking through all the papers, but then what do I do with all of them?? There is only so much wall and refrigerator space to hang her work up on! What do other people do? Help!!

P.S.: Please vote for me on Top Mommy Blogs by clicking on the brown banner above. That's all you have to do to vote, and you can do it once a day. Please help me move back up the ranks! Thanks so much! xoxoxox

A few pics from the weekend

Playing PBSKids games

Tee Ball at the Y

Going for a little walk around Maria's neighborhood

 

Enjoying an expresso (minus the coffee!) with Maria

Fall is here!

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My first time guest posting!

 Tammy, over at I Must Be Trippin' was calling for guest posts from people about how Foster Care has touched their lives. I decided to contribute, something I've never done before. Tammy is a Foster Mom extraordinaire. What I love is how she has maintained such close relationships with the children who have been in her home, and their families, once the children have left her.
Go check out Tammy's blog and my post. Mine is the second one. I plan to actually do a little tweaking of that post, and put it up here as it's own page, since it tells my story leading up to Foster Care and adoption, and I haven't gone into that at all on this blog.

Hope everyone's having a great weekend:)
 

Am I a dorky Mom for being excited about school pictures?

So today is school picture day (squeal!!), and yes, I am that Mother who dressed up her kid and is going to buy the whole package. I know there is a movement to not buy school pictures anymore, they aren't great quality, they are stilted, corny and posed, etc...I know all that. But...I am unnaturally excited to get E's very first school pictures!!! And a class picture!!! My mom always bought my school pictures, and I've loved having them. It is so cool to look back at my class pictures and see what everyone looked like when they were little :) I want that for Elizabeth, too.

 

I snapped a few pictures of her this morning at the bus stop. As you can see, she was as excited as I was for school picture day...:)

P.S.: Pretty please vote for me on Top Mommy Blogs by clicking on the brown banner above. You can do this once a day. I need your help to get back up into the top 5! Thank you!!! xoxoxoxo

I pledge allegiance...

Elizabeth mentioned that she was going to have a turn leading the morning "pledge of allegiance" over the loud speaker at school, so we decided to practice. Here she is...looks like she's got it down! :)

Some fall fun

Today Elizabeth and I both had the day off for Columbus Day, so we got together with our friends Misty and Paden for some fall fun at a nearby farm. There were lots of cool things to do, like...

 

Pick a Pumpkin

Climb and run on the hay

Add caption

Feed the animals

Go for a hay ride (even better if done while eating a warm apple sugar doughnut :)



My little goofball and me :)

 Drive a mini tractor

Our two cuties on the ride home...

It was such a fun day, and it was so nice to have a long weekend. I had a great time hanging with my girl :) Love you sweetie pie!

P.S.: People, people...we need to talk...I'm slipping in the ranks :0 Pretty please vote for me on Top Mommy Bloggers by clicking on the brown banner above. You can do this once a day...pleeeeze??
Thanks!! xoxoxox

Life over the past week in pictures...

Having fun at her Dentist appointment (!!??)

Playing out back before dinner

Hanging out with her friends M (above) and E (below) today

A girl and her scooter :)

So for months, Elizabeth has been begging me for a scooter, specifically the pink Disney Princess scooter.  I've kept putting her off, after all, she has a bike (actually two bikes!). Finally, though, I decided to go ahead and get her one. While she was at Maria's on Sunday, I went to Targay and bought it. I was going to surprise her with it on Sunday when I picked her up from M's, but it was too late in the day by the time we got home. So yesterday, after I picked her up from Afterschool, we got home, and I asked her to help me get something from the trunk of the car. I opened the trunk and when she saw the scooter, she absolutely lit up!! She said, "Oh Mommy, this was the one I wanted!!" :)

 

Happy girl

She even rode it to the bus stop this morning :)