Tap Dancing

Sarah watched a section on an American Girl movie special feature on how to tap dance. She recorded this video of herself to see if she was doing it right.
I thought she did pretty good for 1 day. :)

Sarah Teaching Daddy

Dance Moves! :)

A Rare Occurrence

ELEVEN-ELEVEN-ELEVEN
November 11, 2011

Anna's Jacket

I think she likes it! :)

Update on Miss Broody Britches and Mr. Solomon

We are pretty sure he is a rooster. :)  Today they wandered out of the fence area... and then I got them back in. They are so sweet. :)

Morning Friends

Daddy took these pictures this a.m. while the girls were enjoying each other on the rocking chair. :)
Every time I see these two together, it warms my heart that they will forever be tied to each other as real, true sisters.  :)   They knew each other before we knew them.  They loved each other in the orphanage and had it not been for Sarah's determination to remember her sweet friend and worry about her,  Erika would be..... I can't even think about where Erika would be. But we knew it would have been terrible.  So GRATEFUL that the Lord used a little 5 year old girl to tell us about her special friend.  So grateful that Erika was still at the orphanage. She was scheduled to be shipped off to a mental institution.  So THANKFUL that the Lord saw fit to bring her to us, so we could love her too.
Time to wake up the other two sleepy heads. :)

Coming Home!

Guess who's coming home for Thanksgiving!!!!!!  But there will be an extra girl to administer torture! :)

My Adorable Sarah

What started out as me needing to correct Sarah because of an unkindness on her part, wound up being one of the sweetest times.
We stayed in my room for a long time, lounged on the floor and just chatted. I told her about something I had done as a child and regretted to this day and she laughed.  She shared something else with me and we went back and forth for over an hour just sharing our hearts and laughing.

One thing I just love about Sarah is that she doesn't like it when she is unkind. It upsets her.  She is such a sweet heart.  I had to apologize to her for raising my voice. :(  "Why are you doing that?"  ugh....
I don't like it when I blow it either.

So, we shared "blow it" moments with each other. :)  
Sarah is so cute!  She is right at that in between stage that girls go through; not a child but not a teen either.  She reminds me sometimes of JO in Little Women... lamenting her lost childhood which was WAY too short,  and wanting everything to stay the same. :)

I so understand where she is, because she MISSED the first almost 6 years of her childhood.  She has REALLY enjoyed these last 6 years.  Of course, I gave her permission to be a child, MY CHILD, forever! :)  She laughed about that too. :)

I can't believe how fast the time is going by.  I remember when the boys hit this age... it seemed like a breath and they were all away at college.

Erika will be 18 in just 5  years! That is just NOT very long! Then Anna,Then Sarah,Then Alli.... and I just want to freeze them all in time.

I so love my Sarah.  She is such a light in my life.  She mentioned tonight that she was so glad I was her mama. 
My heart is full of Sarah love tonight. :)

Earthquake!!!!

We just felt an earthquake! In Texas! WOW!

Adoption Video

I remember Erika telling me she felt just like this little one. :(

Many Hands Make a Light Load

When Alli first came home 8 months ago, she thought chores were given out for punishment.  This had been her experience before.  We never use chores for punishment, because chores are a regular part of life. They are not a drudgery, if we can look at them as just being a  part of being in a family.

She did NOT understand that part of family  before.  The idea that many hands make a light load,
and taking pleasure and pride in a job well done, was foreign to her :)
Things have CERTAINLY changed! :)
Today, she started her kitchen chores without being asked. She scrubbed the floor and was working on the last of the dishes when I took this video.

ANNIE The Movie

It was Sarah's turn to pick the Friday night movie last night. She LOVES musicals, and picked Annie.
Mike and I had never seen Annie before.  We had heard good things about it a long time ago.
The movie is Rated PG.  The little girls in the movie were VERY talented in song and dance.

The movie is about an Orphan child during the depression. It is about the hard life in the orphange, that is managed by an alcoholic woman played by Carol Burnette.  She remained drinking or drunk through out the entire movie.  She was verbally abusive to the children and also threatened physical abuse.
Because the movie is entertainment, the children didn't react to her, except to step on her toes a lot.

Annie is chosen to go to a billionaires house for a week, for an experience outside of the orphanage.
When she arrives, all the staff and servants are kind and full of song and dance. Then Daddy Warbucks shows up.  He is harsh and demanding and has no idea he is hosting anybody, especially not a girl.
He says to send her back.
Somehow, during her weeks stay, she turns him into mush, which is a very sweet part of the movie.
But when he gives her a necklace and wants to adopt her, she says no. She is waiting for her real parents to claim her. She has 1/2 of a locket they left with her.
He helps her try to find them by advertising.
Hundreds of people who are dishonest come to claim her for a 50,000 dollar reward.  In the end, it is the Orphanage director, Carol Burnette, and her brother and sister in law that scheme to get the money.  Carol Burnette withheld information that Annie's parents were dead, and she had all her private information, as well as the other half of the locket.  She and her brother agree to a 50/50 split of the reward money and her brother and a girl friend go and claim Annie.  as their own.  When they drive away, they pick up Carol Burnette and Annie sees that it is a plot.  She tries to fight them,but they hold her down and cover her mouth.

In the end, she climbs to the top of a bridge tressle and is dangling in mid air with a man in pursuit to try and kill her.
Then Daddy Warbucks helicopter and body guard come and rescue her.  She is back with Daddy Warbucks and lives happily ever after.

WHEW!  This is not a movie I would recommend for newly adopted children or children who are not secure.  It is full of triggers.

I was also abit surprised at some of the sauciness in the scenes and the political slant. Daddy Warbucks the billionaire was a selfish republican, and the president was  a soft hearted democrat.

 I checked on Alli a couple of times and she said she was fine. She was more interested in the song and dance and the dog. :) I'm glad we watched the special features that showed how the movie was made, how the parts were chosen and allowed the children to interact in some of the acting scenes. This made it VERY CLEAR that this was a fictitious movie and not reality.

Unfortunately, the circumstances in this movie WERE a reality for some of our kids.  They suffered from rejection, abuse and the results of alcoholism and extreme poverty.  I tend to cringe when those things are made light of.

While the movie is full of song, dance and talent.... I would not recommend it, even if there were no traumatized kids in the house. 

Anna and Alli

Relaxing together. :)

A Most Comfortable Way To Sharpen Your Pencil...

Baby Chick Check Up

It appears we may have  Rooster. :)  He has little tail feathers that are distinct. He stays close to his mama and doesn't wander far. Rooster Cogburn and the goats were interested in seeing him today. :)
His mama is very proud! :)

Scrap Booking

 Anna started the ball rolling by making some scrap booking efforts this week. She down loaded a Family Tree to put in her book.  Last night she was wanting to fill it out and she came to me perplexed.  "Mom, I don't know what to put!"
I didn't want to be presumptious, so I said, "You put your mom's name here, your dad's name here...and she said, 'Does it have to be my blood relative? I don't know them?  I said, "Sweetie, do you want to put their names? It is ok if you do! She said, not really, I just don't know what I'm allowed to put!
She was trying to be really HONEST!  She didn't want to put something that wasn't true.
So I explained to her on the Minich family website, she was GRAFTED right in, as are her sisters. Adoption is just as IF you had the same blood~!
So she went ahead and filled it out with our family. I asked her later if she was ok, to make sure, and she reassured me that all was fine. She just wasn't sure what to do. :)
After that, she started on her actual photos. I was so touched that she made a page for EACH of her sisters and said such kind things about each of them.  She said, "Alli is a GREAT little sister!" :) She had very kind things to say about Erika and Sarah.
So, when she and daddy went out tonight for their daddy daughter time, I suggested to the other girls they could do some scrap booking.  They were so excited!  This is a favorite thing for them during the colder months. It gets dark outside early, so they wanted something to do.

They were having so much fun looking through photos I had ordered a couple of months ago.  Sarah said, "I can't wait until we all grow up and these photos will be like, "Old!" and we'll all remember them! It will be so fun!
It was interesting watching them make their pages. They did a really great job. :)

Rebooting The Ole' Brain

Things have been smooth sailing for awhile now with Miss Alli.  We got through the holiday just fine and she has been so happy and relaxed.  She has reached a new high water mark!
Then, at about 10:00 this a.m..... things took a "slight turn".  She seemed a little agitated.
We got through all of that just fine.
But at 2:00 this afternoon.... I could feel her mood changing.  There was a simple interaction involving a CD player she wanted to listen to while doing phonics and I told her no, because she wouldn't be able to concentrate on the sounds. I heard her say under her breath, "yes I will...." in an irritated tone.
She had also not put her glasses on. I asked her to put them on and she declared she could see without them.
I told her, "I didn't ask if you could see. I asked you to put your glasses on."  I could see we were headed nowhere fast so I asked her to join me at the rocking chair.

We rocked for a few minutes and I threw up a few quiet prayers. Then I asked her why we were in the rocking chair.   She said, "I have no idea, but YOU won't believe me!"
I said, " Since you say you don't know, I'll choose to believe you; and now I'll explain why."
I was direct with her and to the point. You didn't do as mother asked, and you were talking back.
She started to defend herself and I stopped her.
I could see she was unable to stop herself. She was stuck....
Instead, I said, "Alli, we have had a wonderful few weeks, haven't we? You have been so happy and relaxed and sweet! Doesn't it feel so good to not have any stressful days? "  "I have really REALLY enjoyed it! Haven't you?"
She said, "Yes."
Well, "How about if we keep on enjoying it!" She knows about having to reboot the computer if it acts up...."Let's reboot your brain right now, and turn off the attitude and go on with our day? What do you say?"

I wasn't sure what her response would be, but she said, "Ok!"

I prayed with her, and she went back to her school work with her glasses on and her headphones off.
I was sitting close by, praying quietly and waiting to see what would happen.
To my joy, she turned around and with a sad face said, "Mama, I'm really sorry. I don't know why I did that. Will you forgive me?"

YES YES and YES!!!!   So we hugged and I reassured her, and all the rest of our day has been fantastic, as if that ole' brain was rebooted! :)

A Mouse In The House??

"THERE MUST BE A MOUSE IN THE HOUSE!"

This is what I said when I saw the new bag of carrots torn open, when there was an OBVIOUS zip lock type entrance!  That got all the girl's attention wanting to know about the mouse.  I showed them the bag..... Anybody get into the carrots?? So GLAD I didn't get a "Not Me!"

Instead I got a little wiggle nose from Miss Sarah who said, "Sorry Mommy!" :)

November Is Adoption Awareness Month

I am actually glad there is an awareness month for adoption.  There seems to be an awareness week, day or month for everything else, some things important, some not so important.  2 weeks ago was International Coffee Day. :)

I don't know about other states in the U.S. , but Texas seems to be making houses BIGGER AND BIGGER, but the size of the average family is smaller and smaller!  Who needs a 6 bedroom home if you have 1 or 2 children? 

It would be so awesome if we considered the Adoption of children as the rule and not the exception. :)
There would no longer be orphans. 
Many times it is because we are just not aware. But once you become aware, your heart is forever burdened.
3 years ago this month, Mike and I traveled back to Ukraine for a missions trip.  We spent 2 weeks visiting orphanages, the TB Sanitarium, an Elderly facility, and a hostel for girls who had aged out.
My heart is still burdened.

 This picture is at the girls' orphanage.  The little boy sitting with the worker burst into tears when  he saw the pictures of Erika and Sarah. He remembered them.  He touched the pictures carefully and looked through them.  He was such a sweetheart of a child. I wonder if he was thinking, "What about me? When will somebody come and get me?"
The little boy in the dark blue reminded me so much of our Tim. His name was Igor. He has Spastic Diplegia, just like Tim, and looked a lot like him at that age.  He tried to grab my glasses and wanted to break them. He was angry.  Rightfully so.  I held him for a little while. He knew I would not be taking him home. :(

And this group of children were at a different orphanage. I was sitting next to this young lady and listening to Mike talk. :)    She was a sweet heart.  She was about 12 years old... the age my girls are today.  Next year, she will be on the streets. :(

I wouldn't want my children on the streets. You wouldn't want your children on the streets. Yet, many of us turn our heads at the horrible issue that is reality for 99% of orphans.  Being adopted is close to winning the lottery.  When we were done speaking, 1/2 dozen girls came running up to us asking if we could adopt them. They wanted to come to the U.S.  They wanted parents before they were going to be turned out onto the streets.

Tonight, as you hug your child, as you watch your teen head to their room, please think about the child who has no room. 
Do you have any room in your heart or home for one of these?

An Object Lesson on Unkind Words

This a.m.  two of the girlies were doing their lessons close to the wood stove to keep warm.  They were playing "old fashioned"....
I over heard one say to the other.... "I think Sarah did it!"  Sarah overheard it, and said, "I did what?"  And then there was silence.  UGH

Of course Sarah was a bit upset being accused of something she didn't even know about.  To get school back on track I asked what was going on.  It turns out, it was some silly thing about a necklace that had nothing to do with Sarah.
I had read about an object lesson on gossip and bullying earlier this a.m. and thought! Ah HA! What a perfect time to use it!

So I had each of my girls get a piece of paper out.  They were to wad it up and stomp on  it and get it as wadded and stomped on as possible.  Then I had them unwrinkle the paper.  I told them that this represents another person's heart, and when we say things about them, or use unkind words towards them and hurt their feelings, it causes damage to the other person.
So they had to apologize to the paper for wadding it up, and I, (the voice of the paper) forgave them....:)

And then, I said, "But look! The paper is still all wrinkly, even though it has forgiven you!  And this is why we must be VERY Careful with our words... Somebody will forgive, but the scars and wounds of unkindness can linger in our hearts for the rest of our lives!

And as soon as the object lesson was over.... one little girl went over to Sarah and said very sincerely, "Sarah, I'm really sorry! Will you forgive me?"  And she did. :)