Planning ahead and toys

Hannah has lately made several comments that I have found funny, mostly because they regard the future and I know her mind will change a million times between now and then. I thought I would record them here, for no other reason than the fact in 15 years she will be so glad I did! (Can you type sarcasm?)

Future occupation: ballet teacher and summer church camp worker

Future state of residency: Alaska and Texas
[These I feel I must explain. Two years ago she had a calendar where one month it had a picture of the Northern Lights. She fell in love and has always brought up her desire to go see them since then. Texas is less complicated. Kennan lives there. :( ]

Where live between here and adulthood: previous she had mentioned getting a house with Abby, but now declares she will live independently, after college, which she plans to attend while living at home. I did try to talk up the fun of living on campus (bunk beds!).

Wedding day: sweet girl says she wants to wear my wedding dress (which she saw in a box while visiting Grammie). I'd like to say this shows her outstanding fashion taste, but know she will most likely cost us a fortune and want her own thing.... as did I (sorry Mom!). She did request to also wear my veil and would I please promise to come to her wedding and put it on? I did promise to do both of those things.


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An odd benefit of vacation and visiting family is the chance to play with new-to-them toys. Most of the toys were previously Kevin's and mine and the girls had so much fun with a complete change. A surprising (and I'll admit, slightly worrisome) hit were Barbies, which my mom kept, including all those outfits! Hannah fell in love and played hours (no exaggeration) with them. Abby also enjoyed them, though the outfits were a bit tricky for her.


I'm not really anti-Barbie, have no problems with the girls playing with them at other peoples house, I just really don't want them at our house. I think my biggest complaint is how blond haired and blue eyed she is, esp. as brown eyed, brown haired mother of two other brown eyed, brown haired girls with hopes of adopting a child who is could be any hue of the rainbow. And really, if you are not sure how blond Barbie is, go to WalMart and count--count how many "non-blond" girls there are to the blonds.

But still, Hannah played for HOURS and any mom can tell you how much that is worth--almost enough to toss your pro-healthy body image, pro-multiculturalism out the window. Luckily I don't think Kevin would let me totally forget (as a boy who never played with Barbie, he has no tender memories like I do). So, a suitable subistute was needed to be found. I won't say how long I searched the internet, checking out pretty much any "fashion doll" I could find, actually reading articles regarding the different options (who write articles about dolls?). I finally found a doll I thought would be a good subistute, Moxie Dollz. Moxie Dollz are made by the creators of Bratz, which almost turned me off the first minute, but they are milder, more appropriately dressed, not sassy looking doll. More like a pre-teen girl. It would be nice if they had more clothing options, but I'm hoping since they are relatively new, more will come. The girls are thrilled with them and have shown that the Moxie girl can hold their attention, just like the Barbie did.


While buying the Moxie Dollz at Toys R Us, I got to just wander the store, without children, looking at the latest and greatest new toys. Still, what found itself into my cart was more of an "oldie but a goodie" -- Tinkertoys. Hannah has never been great with creative building toys, despite having Leggos, wooden blocks, big cardboard blocks, etc. etc.... I almost didn't buy the Tinkertoys, figuring they would land where so many toys that I buy land--in the never play with, would rather run around or play with my dolls, pile. Still, Hannah (and Abby) shocked me. They are obessed! Anytime for the past week I've suggested they go play with Tinkertoys, they are off like a light and happily playing before I turn around.

Hannah with her windmill, which she told me makes energy.
What are your kids favorite toys? What have been complete duds? And should I just get over my anti-Barbie attitudes?

Another adoption update

For the last two weeks we've been traveling the west coast, logging in over 40 hours in our van as we drove from our house to Vancouver WA to visit Kevin's parents, then up to the Puget Sound to celebrate his grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary and then down to California where we visited my family. The girls behaved remarkably well. Abby is a trooper and I would without hesitation take her on any big road trip. Hannah is a bit more of a nervous traveler and managed to have one major meltdown per travel day. (I was frustrated with this fact, but also saw my own stomach aches and meltdowns that resulted from travel stress.) We are home now and settling back in. Not sure what to do with this messy house--guess Bentley didn't understand he was supposed to clean up the place!

Our adoption has made a bit of progress. I finally heard back from the FBI and my fingerprints passed this time! Our homestudy is now completed and we are cleared to adopt! Which basically means we could adopt immediately (although the chances are improbable).

We also, after much talk and prayer, decided to change our preferences. As I stated in an earlier post, we get to "choose" what sort of child we would like, in the most general and broad sense possible. At the time we said only boy but while on vacation decided to open it up to "unknowns" which are pregnancies that do not yet know the gender. So, there is still some selection going on-we did not open it up to pregnancies that are girls, but now will be more open and allow us to be presented to more birthmothers.

In conversations it has appeared that people thought Kevin was the reason for the boy only, but really it was me. Kevin said from the beginning he didn't care, but I am a control freak and the adoption process, esp. the domestic route, leaves nothing for control. I'm really at peace with opening it up and have started the mental preparations for a girl. One night I stayed up late worrying about names because although we have 1 girl name picked and ready to go, what would we do with twin girls? I finally fell asleep when I landed on one that I liked and the next day while driving got Kevin to sign on to the name and even figure out a good middle name to go with it. Highly unlikely that we will get twin girls, but I feel more at ease knowing I've got a name waiting.

We also, thanks to my mom's mad skill with a Flip recorder, have a video to add to our profile page. We were not thrilled to make it (who wants to see themselves on tape talking about what great parents they are?), but it made sense. We live in such a tech savvy time and birthmothers are more likely to be used to YouTube and such that it makes sense that it would be a better way to connect with them.

So, that is where we are. Adoption is progressing, although a match seems far off. This is one of those things that we walk into with faith, knowing that God is good and in control, even when I am frustrated by what feels like slowness. I have confidence that when our baby comes home, the whole process will make sense and the slowness a blessing.

Swim Lessons

Hannah had 2 weeks of swim lessons in a neighboring town -- our town, despite being bigger, has no town pool :(

Last year swim lessons were torture, but this year they went swimmingly well! Hannah passed level 1 and just clearly demonstrated a greater enjoyment of the water.

This girl was her buddy (each kid had one) and interacted very well with her. Floating on her back Jumping in -- like her pose! This smile was the whole point of the lessons! She likes the water!

Ready!Go!Poor little sisters! Abby and Olivia enjoy the park while they wait for their sisters. Olivia is older than Abby by almost a year, but a good buddy. Look at them demonstrating how to share!

Coulee Kidfest

Every year our area has a Kidfest, which is just basically a day that celebrates all the things kids can do around here during the summer. Local businesses particpate in this activity, allowing kids to do things for free. We've taken part of it every year, although Kevin's participation has varied. Somehow it is a popular funeral time because the last 2 years he has had a funeral to do (and he really doesn't do too many, so it is slightly odd). Still, he hung out with us at the beginning and my mom who was here visiting also got to take part.

Paddle boats are a surefire winner.

My water-safe girls (the longer we live here the more water is playing a role in our lives. I guess it has just taken some getting used to, but I actaully now view a day at the beach like going to the park.)

Hannah helped paddle us in. Nice break for Mom!

Miniature golfing.

Isn't Hannah a pro in the making?

Abby has less form, but lots of enthusasim!

She has an abundance of attitude!