As uncool as it makes me, I spent Black Friday in its entirety cleaning carpets in our house. And Fred got called into work, so he didn’t do any better. But since that’s NOT probably what anyone wants to see or hear from our end, here are at least some cute pix from our Thanksgiving celebrations. Once I get a few moments to generate a “real post,” I’ll write again. But until then, here’s our crazy family (and a couple close friends) enjoying the holiday (the night before, and then Thanksgiving Day):
Our Thanksgiving Craft – Native American Headband Napkin Rings:
Read the rest of this entry
Filed under:
Uncategorized
Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him—for this is his lot. Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart.
-Ecclesiastes 5:18-20
I picked this day before Thanksgiving to focus again on a goal I wrote down at the beginning of the year: To be “occupied with gladness of heart.” Read the rest of this entry
Filed under:
Uncategorized
Adopting from El Salvador is going to be a long process, but I figure it’s never too soon to get buy-in from the sons we have. They love little kids and babies, but it is going to come as a shock when they realize they have to split our attention even further. And we have no idea how well or how quickly the new members will adjust to joining us.
So I decided I’d have H & J “adopt” the kids with us. I’m usually the one to run the paperwork around and schedule appointments, so rather than drop them off at Mom-Mom’s house, I always take them with me.
And at every stop, I’ve told them, “and when we were adopting YOU, we did this too!” Which they know, ’cause they have pictures in their adoption albums of Fred and me doing the paperwork rounds.
But when our next kids flip through their albums, this is what they’ll see: Read the rest of this entry
About a month ago, I finally bit the bullet and began attending a Hispanic Bible study our church supports. It’s a group that’s been meeting for a couple of years now, and Fred and I were invited to come; but we never had because we knew we wouldn’t fit in very well. However, as I mentioned in a prior post, we haven’t been all that connected to Hispanic/Latino folks in our area aside from those the boys and I have met while out shopping every week. And it was time to try something more proactive.
I went to the first meeting with what could best be described as a feeling of dread. I’m not really a shy person, but I’m not that good at not being good at things. And I am not good at speaking Spanish! So I was a little bit terrified that I would be received with something resembling “What are you doing here you silly white girl?” Read the rest of this entry
Our family’s adoption story started before we were a family. Fred and I hadn’t met yet and wouldn’t for 4 more years. I was a college student with three younger living siblings and a younger brother who had died shortly after birth. Still trying for that second boy, my parents decided to adopt.
Enter my youngest brother, born in Guatemala, united with our family at 7 months old.
Read the rest of this entry
Filed under:
Uncategorized
Good news for those who struggle telling the twins apart – José is now “the one with the glasses.” Turns out he has a lazy right eye. The optometrist said he’s had it since birth, and we just didn’t discover it till his most recent annual check-up. José was beside himself with excitement that he got to wear glasses “just like TÍo Steven,” my youngest brother who is also Guatemalteco by birth. And he does look quite handsome and scholarly in them, if I do say so myself.
Read the rest of this entry
It was with great rejoicing that I sent our adoption dossier off to El Salvador at the end of July. After 10 months of paperchasing, home inspections, and fingerprinting at the state, national and then international levels, I was happy to have the whole thing in someone else’s hands for a while.
Check. Done.
Oh, but False. Read the rest of this entry
Filed under:
Uncategorized
I tuned into BBC News this evening, since I figured I could catch up on world news while finishing up some mindless work I needed to do. And there it was – video of flooding in El Salvador. We see it all the time: drought in Ethiopia, typhoons in Indonesia. It’s easy to become numb to the natural and human-inflicted disasters of our world. Till something becomes personal for some reason. Read the rest of this entry
Hi, I’m Fred, the Papa here at American Mamacita. I guess that makes me American Papacito, although I’m not very small… so maybe just American Papa. Just like Kim, our boys named me. I had planned to be Dad, the name I call my father, and the name he called his father. But adoption shakes things up, and for me, it brought a new name. I love being a Papa; it sounds more personal to me–not sure why. I’ll have to write more on it in the future.
As you probably already know, we’re in the process of a second adoption, this time from El Salvador. And I’m a bit nervous about it. If you asked my friends for a list of traits that describe me, you’d probably get a bunch. Most of them I’d be proud of, and some of them I’m sure I wouldn’t. But one trait I wouldn’t expect to hear is fearful. It’s usually not me. Yet that’s at least 50% of the emotion I feel when thinking about bringing home our new kids. Read the rest of this entry
