ESPN highlights adoption story of Georgia coach

Georgia Bulldogs head coach, Mark Richt and his wife adopted two children in 1999.  Their story was featured on ESPN earlier this week and if you have not already seen it, I would encourage you to watch the segment.  Shaohannah’s Hope has posted it on their website.  

Coach Richt with daughter Anya in 2000

At one point, Coach Richt says an adoption journey is more than just a one-time event; it’s a lifelong commitment.  I often think of our adoption journey as one that will unite us with our child.  But the journey certainly does not end there – it is a lifelong commitment, just as it is with biological children.

I “Heart” Your Blog Award

How cool is this?!  This “I ‘heart’ your blog” award has just been bestowed upon me by my friend (and fellow Redskins fan) over at Nothing Fancy.   Go and check out her blog – and don’t miss the story she shared about the first time they met their son, H, and his homecoming.  Thanks for the award!

Here are the rules for accepting this award:

1. The award may be displayed on the recipient’s blog.
2. Add a link to the person from who you received the award.
3. Nominate up to seven other blogs.
4. Add their links to your blog.
5. Send a message to each of those you awarded to tell them about the award.

Now, it is time for me to select a few fellow bloggers who deserve this award.  I nominate:

• Stretch Mark Mama
• Journey to Hannah Claire
• LifeTrain
• No Place Like Home
• A Journey of Love

Butterfly Valley

Many of you probably have noticed the “Taiwan Picture of the Day” in the sidebar of our blog.  The photos have all been submitted by photographers throughout Taiwan.  Today’s photo caught my eye – it’s a Red Dragon Fly, spotted in Kaohsiung County’s Butterfly Valley.

Red Dragon Fly

The colors are so vibrant - I am in awe of God’s handiwork and the beauty of this dragon fly.  I wonder if we may have time to visit Butterfly Valley when we travel to Taiwan?  It sounds amazing:

“After the green shower, Liouguei Butterfly Valley awaits you. The butterfly valley locates in the valley of Hongshui Stream and Jhujiao Stream in Liouguei Township. The temperature in the valley is steady because the valley is shielded by surrounding mountains. Also, because of the Kassod trees in the valley that make the best home for butterflies, the valley is the best shelter for butterflies from harsh winter and to breed. The winding rivers, dancing butterflies in the sky and the numerous butterflies resting on the branches will all take your breath away in astonishment. There are over 280 species of butterflies in Taiwan, and over 250 species of them reside in the valley. The valley is well deserved with the reputation “Kingdom of Butterfly”.” – From Kaohsiung County’s Culture and Tourism website

The Mommy Orphanage

I just read a review of a new children’s book called The Mommy Orphanage, written by Cheryl and Emily Krauss, a mother and her daughter adopted from China.   The idea for the book came about when Emily heard the story of how she came to live in America — she asked her mother ‘what if’ there was a mommy orphanage where all the mommies live until a child chooses them to be their mom.   It sounds like a sweet story and I look forward to picking up a copy the next time I am at the bookstore.  As I reflect on our personal journey of adoption, I have to admit sometimes I feel like we are waiting to be “chosen”.  Our adoption agency works with families in the order in which families go on the waiting list.  There are several criteria that go into the waiting list, such as age of child requested, consideration of special needs, home study approval date, and so on.  As part of our file for our agency, we assembled a family scrapbook, which will give the orphanage, and perhaps the birth-family also, a glimpse of our family life.  With all of the paperwork and other tasks we have completed in moving to this point in our adoption, we trust that God will unite us with the child He has for our family.

Before You Vote. . .

Consider this powerful argument.

Week Seven: Grand Holiday Plan

I have a confession. . .the Grand Holiday Plan has caused me to become somewhat obsessed with make-ahead freezer meals.  I participated in a “Group Cook” last Friday with some other moms from my MOPS group, and here are the recipes we made: Chicken Parmesan, Chicken Stroganoff, Chicken Fajitas and Happy Sesame Chicken.  We’ve already eaten the Chicken Parmesan and it was delicious – the recipe came from the Dream Dinners Cookbook.  I’ve been tempted to purchase meals from one of the Dream Dinners’ businesses near our home, but I’ve always thought the meals were priced a little too high.  I didn’t realize Dream Dinners has a cookbook until I found it at the library last week.  Can’t wait to try out a few of those recipes!  We have a small chest freezer and right now it is stocked with 13 ready-to-bake meals.  You may recall from a previous post that I had fixed several recipes from Fix, Freeze Feast - we’ve tried the Mariachi Chicken Rolls, Sweet Asian Chicken and the Cashew Chicken Stir fry.  All delicious!   The four books pictured above are the ones with which I have been experimenting — the other two are Girlfriends on the Go! and Don’t Panic – Dinner’s in the Freezer.

Now, for an update on the rest of my holiday preparations.  No new gifts purchased.  As for cleaning, I took a break this past week.  The kitchen is the focus this week and while on the surface it looks pretty good, the Tupperware cabinet and the cabinet where I keep the kids’ cups and the measuring cups could use an overhaul.  I have yet to figure out how to keep my plastic containers organized.  It has gotten to the point where if I open the cabinet door, it all starts falling out on the floor…any suggestions?

Taiwan foundation urges families to adopt

The Child Welfare League Foundation in Taiwan held a news conference today, calling on local families to adopt abandoned children:

“Some parents abandon their children because of financial problems, some because the children are suffering from serious diseases, and others because they are in prison and cannot look after their children, the spokesman said.

“To make matters worse, some families that have adopted children plan to give up the children because of financial woes, he said.

“Recent government statistics show that the number of local families willing to adopt children has dwindled over the past few years, the spokesman said.

The country’s sluggish economy is one of the main reasons behind the drop in the number of families willing to adopt children, according to the spokesman.” – Excerpt from Taiwan News, October 16, 2008

Week Six: Grand Holiday Plan

A bit more progress on the Grand Holiday Plan this week — the tasks this week included cleaning the guest bedroom and bathroom, more shopping and work on make-ahead food for the holidays. The guest bathroom is also my laundry room and the same bathroom our kids use, so the idea that it is going to stay neat through the holidays is slim, but it’s clean right now! My parents came to visit this weekend so the guest bedroom is also in good shape.

I bought my first Christmas gift on Saturday at the Green Valley Book Fair – the gift is a scrapbooking kit/book for one of my nieces. I was hoping to find a few more gifts at the book fair, but my other ideas didn’t pan out. We are scaling back our Christmas budget this year so I am on the look-out for great bargains and discounts. So far, with the Grand Holiday Plan, I should have already bought about ¼ of the gifts on my list. But I am re-thinking my gift ideas and will hopefully get a jump-start in the next couple of weeks. I had a few ideas as I was shopping the other day and hope to save some money by giving some “semi-homemade” gifts. I am curious to know if any of you reading this are scaling back your holiday plans, and how you are planning to shop this year?

One Year Waiting

It has been one year since we went on the wait list with our agency to adopt from Taiwan.  We are one year closer to meeting our child.  It’s hard to believe so much time has already gone by – seems like it was just yesterday that we were meeting with our social worker for the first time to complete our home study.  In the last year, we have followed the journeys of many families as they have traveled to Taiwan and met their new little ones for the first time - thank goodness for adoption blogs, or I would be lost and lonely on this adoption journey!  We still have several months ahead of us before we receive a referral, and then several more months before we will be able to travel to Taiwan to complete the adoption.  It’s all in God’s perfect timing, and we will be patient and wait on Him.

Week Five: Grand Holiday Plan

This was a great week for the Grand Holiday Plan in this house!  I have almost caught up on the deep-cleaning part of the plan.  This week I tackled our bedroom and bathroom, as well as our kids’ rooms.  It felt so refreshing to pack away clothes too small for our kids, and to organize their drawers with fall and winter clothing.  I’ll finish up this week by designating clothes that should be donated, and also storing away summer clothes. 

During these last couple of weeks the plan has called for making an extra meal for the freezer for use during the holidays.  Well, this week, I made 13 freezer meals!  I may save a few of those for the holidays, but I am trying to “economize” more with our grocery spending by buying in bulk.  I found a great book at the library called Fix, Freeze, Feast written by two women who operate one of those make-ahead meal businesses.  I made meals using four recipes: Mariachi Chicken Rolls, Sweet Asian Chicken, Cashew Chicken Stir-Fry, and Peanut Satay.  All of the meals make 4-6 servings.  The authors base their recipes on the bulk food quantities you buy at warehouse clubs like Costco and Sam’s Club.  I have another make-ahead cookbook but this one seemed so much easier to use.   I hope to cut our grocery spending by a few hundred dollars by planning our meals this way.