Bean (19)
Bean has had quite a year! It started out incredibly rough, as we were working on adjusting to life in America, plus learning English, plus trying to figure out meds and therapies. We switched schools to get him into our zoned school. We'd had him in a smaller school, hoping it would be less overwhelming for him. He was really unhappy that we switched schools at first. But after the first few months, he found that the new school was MUCH better for him. He ended up having a really good year! I still don't think he'll ever be able to read. But he's learning so many other important things. He's in the developmental learning center for four periods each day, and then a period each of Life Skills and ELL. He also got to play Unified Basketball (Special Olympics), and our school came in 2nd in our region! We've had many wonderful firsts this year. He has stopped calling Matt and me by our first names and is calling us Mommy and Daddy! He cried in front of us on Christmas when I gave him a collage frame of photos of his foster home in his birth country where he lived for 7 years. He said "I love you" and meant it! He apologized without being told to. He made a friend! Bean still goes to work with Daddy on Saturdays, and he loves working on appliances. He is responsible for mowing our whole property (3 acres of grass to mow...), which he loves because it means using the riding mower. He loves his X-Box and computer games, and watching car repair videos and farming videos on YouTube. He also loves riding his bike and roller skating. Bean still has a great sense of humor, and he loves to tease. He makes us laugh every day. Parenting Bean is not easy. His past trauma is huge and his disabilities require huge patience and creativity. I never cease to marvel at my amazing husband. He is exactly the right dad for Bean, and he's doing great!
Snapper (almost 18)
I'm still in a state of denial that our girl is moving out in 9 weeks. We're cherishing every day with her. You already know that she had a fantastic school year, despite the interruption of Covid. She and her sweetheart decided to part ways at the end of last summer, which was an adjustment for her, after being close friends for 3 years. She's really looking forward to college this fall, and to the new friendships she's bound to make. Snapper has a full summer ahead of her! She's really hoping the water park will open, because she has a full-time job lined up there. She also auditioned for a job as a back-up singer with a local jazz band. She did so well that they offered her a job as one of their two female soloists! They're booked for several gigs this fall, and she is so excited! They're doing primarily swing music this year, which is tons of fun.
Joy (16)
This girl is an absolute miracle! She came to us dismally behind in school...like years and years behind. She completely believed that she was stupid, ugly, and unable to succeed. Our school is WONDERFUL and they've done a great job at supporting and encouraging our sweet girl. We've worked very hard at home to build her up and help her see what a gem she is. She finished out this school year with a 4.0 gpa, and all her classes are in English! She expressed to me her desire to try to take extra classes so she can graduate on time, rather than having a second senior year. I spoke with her ELL teacher and her counselor, and they agreed with me that Joy can handle it! She's taking Geometry and Food & Wellness over the summer, and will take a zero-hour class this fall. She'll take two more classes online next summer, and she'll have enough credits to graduate on time. We're so proud of her determination and hard work! Joy has a sweet best friend who is a refugee, being hosted by an American family. Joy is a total homebody. She likes to listen to music, paint her nails, and hang out with her sisters. She played volleyball at school last year, and she's planning to play again this fall. Joy has worked hard to learn how to trust a mom and a dad, and she astonishes us with how brave and open she is. She continues to be the peacemaker in our home. She lives up to her blog name (she is pure JOY), and she has been the easiest adopted kiddo ever. In fact, if every adoption were this simple, I'd adopt again and again! Oh, how we love this girl!
Bubbles (15)
What an incredibly trying year for our strong, resilient girl! Bubbles tried out for cheer, color guard, and dance at the high school, but she did not make any of the teams. She decided that God must have other plans for her. Despite the intense disappointment, she held her head up and moved forward, looking for what God wanted for her. It turned out to be a very good thing that she wasn't on any teams, because she contracted mono in early October. She was a very, very sick girl. The doctor was very concerned because Bubbles had significant enlargement of her spleen. She slept 18 hours per day from mid-October thru Christmas. Homebound services worked with her on school, but she wasn't really able to do anything. She was just too exhausted and foggy. She went back to school after Christmas break, and she still had to play catch-up on a lot of work before finals at the end of January. That would've been hard to any kid after missing almost 3 months of school! Throw in her learning disabilities, and it was a recipe for disaster. But Bubbles is a fighter, and she worked her tail off and passed every class! Her gpa wasn't impressive, but she passed. She was just starting to hit stride when Covid came along and shut down school. Distance learning was HARD for this girl. She struggles just to pass classes with the daily help and support of her teachers. The work that was supposed to take 3 hours per day took her 6+ hours per day. But again, she persisted and worked hard. She finished the school year with no missing assignments! I took her out for all-you-can-eat frozen yogurt to celebrate a 3.18 gpa for second semester! What a rock star! The hardest part of this year for Bubbles has been losing her best friend. The friend was making some poor choices and refused to listen to guidance. Bubbles made the painful choice to put up some healthy boundaries, and lost the friendship because of it. But her decision was the right one, a decision that will set her up for success down the road. Learning to draw the lines between right and wrong--even at great personal cost--is so important! She's working on developing other friendships now, and she's excited for school this fall. She tried out for dance and color guard again, and this time she made both teams! Bubbles is another source of pure joy for us. When I look at her and think about the first 6 1/2 years of her life, and what a nightmare she lived, I'm blown away at the amazing person she has become. Our road with her was so rough for so long, but Matt and I were agreeing today that we'd do it all over again.
Piper (14)
When I go back and read my post from last year, I'm thankful that my post this year has quite adifferent flavor! When you adopt of a child who has endured incredible trauma, and also had prenatal exposure to alcohol and drugs, you run a very high risk that the child's scars will be too deep to overcome. When we adopted Piper, Bubbles, and Sunny, we had no clue the degree of what they'd been through. Honestly, if we had known, we wouldn't have adopted them. The risk would've been too high for us. I'm SO GLAD WE DIDN'T KNOW! If we'd said no, we would've missed so much! We've had incredible struggles with Piper. Even 6 months ago, I was trying to fight despair, doubting she would ever be healed enough to live a normal adult life. Y'all...I don't know what happened, but somewhere around February, Piper's life flipped a u-turn! We've seen exponential growth in her over the last few months. The lying, stealing, manipulation, extreme meanness, lack of empathy, and school apathy that were so overwhelming have almost completely disappeared. All of a sudden, she is kind to her siblings, respectful to Matt and me, responsible with her schoolwork, honest, humble, and remorseful when she has done something wrong. After years of never hearing "I'm sorry" cross her lips, she is suddenly able to authentically apologize. She'll admit when she is wrong. She has caught herself and come clean when she has deceived me. She's growing in her social skills, and has been invited to three friends' houses...something that has only happened twice in the 8 years we've had her! I can only chalk it up to a miracle, because that's what was needed. Her recent neuropsych evaluation showed only two minor diagnoses, neither of which are serious! Her doctor expects that Piper will be able to live a totally normal life as a healthy, functional adult! A miracle, y'all! Piper is really looking forward to high school this fall. She tried out for color guard and made the team! She's also signed up for Pro-Start, the culinary program at the high school. I'm sad that she won't be continuing with choir, but glad to see her wanting to branch out and explore other things. Piper continues to love being with our little Sweet Pea. The two of them spend hours together every day. Piper is a wonderful babysitter! She is still goofy and says the most ridiculous, off-the-wall things. But she keeps us laughing. After 2 1/2 years of having steel plates in her legs, the work is done and the legs are straight! She's having surgery to remove the plates next week. She's not happy about having to do P.E. again after being exempt for two years, but she's very happy the plates are coming out. I'm so happy to be able to share this all this great news! For those of you who have kids who are struggling, don't give up. Miracles do happen. We're living proof of that!
Pepper (14 in a few weeks)
Like Piper, Pepper has had a year of wonderful growth...both personal and physical. At not quite 14, he's 5'11" and weighs a whopping 98 pounds. He's the epitome of string bean! If anyone has any size 28/36 jeans you'd like to send our way, let me know...
Pepper's med change a year ago was the right one, and he has only had two seizures in the last 14 months! His sweet service dog, Padfoot, continues to be a blessing to our whole family! I've never known such a loving, gentle, mannerly dog. Pepper had a fantastic school year. After 4 years in our wonderful alternative school, he has decided he's ready to return to our mainstream school. He's still a genius, and he's looking forward to some very challenging classes this fall. He is also very excited to play marimbas in the marching band! Pepper still loves reading and playing video games. He especially loves playing Fortnight with his best friend, Nik, and he chafes at the time limits I place on his gaming. Since he was a tiny little guy, Pepper has been the kindest, gentlest, most forgiving soul; nothing has changed! He is a favorite with all the teachers and administration at our alternative school, and they're so sad he's leaving. I love my tall, skinny boy, and I can't believe he's a high schooler!
Sweet Pea (6)
Spicy, sassy, and sweet are the best words to describe our little caboose! She has left early childhood behind her and is a full-fledged kid! She had a really, really hard time adjusting to school last fall. Even though she attends the alternative school where I teach, she just couldn't get comfortable. Lots of tears, lots of support from teachers and peers, and lots of sticker charts later, she finally settled in and got comfortable in December. Academically, though, she had no problems! She's brilliant like Snapper and Pepper, and she's actually going to be starting 2nd grade this fall! I love that our school enables her to work at her own level while remaining in class with her age mates. Sweet Pea loves anything that allows her to be active. Riding her bike (she's a speed demon without training wheels), riding her scooter, jumping rope, roller skating, dancing, and doing cartwheels are her m.o. She moves constantly, and most likely has ADHD. She's great at schoolwork (loves to read), but has a very short attention span. She also loves to watch movies, play board games, and play with her dolls and stuffed animals. Piper is her very best friend, but she also has some wonderful friends her age. Sweet Pea fills my heart to overflowing with her happy, loving, cheerful personality. She is pampered and adored by all her siblings, who give her whatever she wants. She'd definitely spoiled, and I'm having to devote extra energy to working through the issues that come with being doted on by 6 older sibs. Overall, though, our baby is a delight! We love her to pieces. (The scab on her forehead was where she ended up with stitches after she discovered that speedy bikes don't turn well on gravel...)
Sunny (12)
It is hard to believe that Sunny has not lived with us in three years. My heart still aches that she can't live with us. But I'm so thankful that her story didn't follow the track we thought it would. I'm so thankful that Matt's sister and brother-in-law stepped up and offered to help us with Sunny. Three years of being an only child has been for better for her than any residential program would've been. Diana is the best possible advocate for Sunny. She works tirelessly to make sure Sunny has everything she needs. She pulled Sunny out of public school in November and started homeschooling her. I don't know how she does it! But it has paid off, and Sunny is skipping 6th grade! This makes up for the year we lost when Sunny needed to repeat 1st grade. I'm so happy for her! Sunny still loves playing soccer, and worked up the courage to play goalie this year. She still loves snowboarding, too. We will never stop praying for a miracle for Sunny, though. While she's doing so well in some areas, she will always experience the consequences of her parents' bad choices. Life will always be hard for her. She has some very deep, complex scars. But she's in the best place she could possibly be, and I'm glad we still get to be part of her life.
I don't know if I'll update this blog again any time soon. Having five high schoolers and a busy mini-teen keeps me on my toes (and in my car) a lot! Plus, I'll be working even more this fall. I love teaching math! It's my favorite job ever! I'll update if I get around to it. =) I hope you all are well out there in the bloggyverse!
