Most of Scott's students know we are in the process of a Russian adoption. One day last year, a couple of his female students thought they would help him out. They put together this list of advice.
In their own words...
Your Guide to Become the #1 Dad
What Not to do with a Girl
1. Don't be strict, else she'll rebel
2. Don't let her be in a room with a boy alone ((bad news))
3. But let boys come over
4. Let her know its okay for her to talk to you, w/o you getting mad
5. Let her go out, but check her purse before she goes
6. When she comes back, check her breath (every kid drinks, don't get mad!)
7. Let mom do the "sex talk"
8. Don't read her letters!
9. If she asks you to go get tampons, go get them
10. If she tells you she has cramps, she probably doesn't, let her stay home anyways
11. When you pick her up from high school do not get out of your car and wave for her. IT'S EMBARASSING!
12. When she has friends over, its NOT okay for you to walk around in your underwear
13. Put her in a room with no windows
So that's it! The top 13 pieces of advice, straight from 16 year olds. Phew! I was worried we wouldn't have anyone to turn to for solid parenting advice. (Now... off to tivo SuperNanny and Dr. Phil. Let's see what else we can add to the list!)
Monday, July 30, 2007
Friday, July 27, 2007
"Tin" Years and Counting
Yesterday, we celebrated our tenth anniversary.
Do you know what the traditional gift is for 10 years? It's TIN.
I came downstairs to find a bunch of Pepsi cans lined up, with letters attached, spelling HAPPY ANNIVERSARY.
Get it? Tin!
(Let's just say, I can't wait to get to that diamond anniversary!)
Do you know what the traditional gift is for 10 years? It's TIN.
I came downstairs to find a bunch of Pepsi cans lined up, with letters attached, spelling HAPPY ANNIVERSARY.
Get it? Tin!
(Let's just say, I can't wait to get to that diamond anniversary!)
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Happy Birthday Scott!
All Scott wanted for his birthday... was a CUBS win... Uh, he had to settle for dinner at Olive Garden.
The waiter skipped the little chocolate cake and brought him this yummy, fruity, smoothie, berry concoction. It was quite "fkoosnah." That's how to say "tasty" in Russian!
Speaking of speaking in Russian... Scott is definitely in the honors program for learning Russian. We bought a CD a long time ago with "helpful phrases for Russian adopters." Scott knows sooooo many phrases already! Now, will they actually be helpful? That's yet to be seen!
The CD tracks are broken up into categories, like:
WHEN YOU MEET YOUR CHILD- Here we learn phrases like, "I'm your Papa." "This is for you." "I love you." "We are a family."
Then, there's the track:
ON THE PLANE- Here we learn, "Sit down!" "Be quiet!" "Don't touch that!" "Come back here!" "Do you need to go poo poo?"
I think I've been in denial about the fact I'll be traveling for 20 hours with one (or maybe two!) small children. How do you say, "Yikes!" in Russian???
The waiter skipped the little chocolate cake and brought him this yummy, fruity, smoothie, berry concoction. It was quite "fkoosnah." That's how to say "tasty" in Russian!
Speaking of speaking in Russian... Scott is definitely in the honors program for learning Russian. We bought a CD a long time ago with "helpful phrases for Russian adopters." Scott knows sooooo many phrases already! Now, will they actually be helpful? That's yet to be seen!
The CD tracks are broken up into categories, like:
WHEN YOU MEET YOUR CHILD- Here we learn phrases like, "I'm your Papa." "This is for you." "I love you." "We are a family."
Then, there's the track:
ON THE PLANE- Here we learn, "Sit down!" "Be quiet!" "Don't touch that!" "Come back here!" "Do you need to go poo poo?"
I think I've been in denial about the fact I'll be traveling for 20 hours with one (or maybe two!) small children. How do you say, "Yikes!" in Russian???
Thursday, July 19, 2007
No More Waiting to Wait!
Terrific news today!
For the past year, we've been waiting for agency accreditation. After the accreditation wait comes the wait for a referral (match with a child/ren).
As of today, no more waiting to wait!
I got a phone call this morning... our agency has officially received accreditation! So now we will be just plain old waiting!
It could still be a few weeks or a few months before we are matched with a referral, but still... today brought great news. Scott's at Lake Mead on a boat trip, so I'm celebrating with Molly and Wrigley!
For the past year, we've been waiting for agency accreditation. After the accreditation wait comes the wait for a referral (match with a child/ren).
As of today, no more waiting to wait!
I got a phone call this morning... our agency has officially received accreditation! So now we will be just plain old waiting!
It could still be a few weeks or a few months before we are matched with a referral, but still... today brought great news. Scott's at Lake Mead on a boat trip, so I'm celebrating with Molly and Wrigley!
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Map of Russia
No accreditation news from our agency yet....
So, here's a map of Russia. You can see how it is divided into many regions or "oblasts." We are registered in a region called Voronezh. As I understand it, there are 3 orphanages in this region. Voronezh is southwest of Moscow, bordering Ukraine(count about 3 regions down,and 1 to the left from Moscow on the map). It's about a 12 hour train ride or 1 hour by plane from Moscow.
If you are interested in knowing a little more about the Russian adoption process...
Adopting in Russia actually requires us to make 2 trips. The first trip lasts about a week. We'll get a couple of days visiting with our child(ren) in the orphanage. Then we must file our paperwork with the Ministry of Education, stating we are planning to move forward with the adoption. Then, we go home... and the children stay in the orphange! :(
It can take several weeks (even months) before we receive a court date and are invited back. On the second trip we will have our official meeting with a judge, then there is usually a ten day waiting period before we are allowed to leave the country with the children. We must file for visas for the children back in Moscow. In all, the second trip can actually run close to 3 weeks.
Usually, at this time of year, Scott and I are planning some tropical vacation somewhere. Not this year! We're just saving our pennies, and hoping our next flight takes us far, far from any palm trees or oceanfront cabanas.
So, here's a map of Russia. You can see how it is divided into many regions or "oblasts." We are registered in a region called Voronezh. As I understand it, there are 3 orphanages in this region. Voronezh is southwest of Moscow, bordering Ukraine(count about 3 regions down,and 1 to the left from Moscow on the map). It's about a 12 hour train ride or 1 hour by plane from Moscow.
If you are interested in knowing a little more about the Russian adoption process...
Adopting in Russia actually requires us to make 2 trips. The first trip lasts about a week. We'll get a couple of days visiting with our child(ren) in the orphanage. Then we must file our paperwork with the Ministry of Education, stating we are planning to move forward with the adoption. Then, we go home... and the children stay in the orphange! :(
It can take several weeks (even months) before we receive a court date and are invited back. On the second trip we will have our official meeting with a judge, then there is usually a ten day waiting period before we are allowed to leave the country with the children. We must file for visas for the children back in Moscow. In all, the second trip can actually run close to 3 weeks.
Usually, at this time of year, Scott and I are planning some tropical vacation somewhere. Not this year! We're just saving our pennies, and hoping our next flight takes us far, far from any palm trees or oceanfront cabanas.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Hey! I'm a blogger!
Hi everyone! Well, this is my first attempt at a real life blog. I thought it would be a great way to keep our family and friends updated on the adoption process. First of all, we want everyone to know how much we have appreciated your thoughts, prayers, and inquiries over the last couple of years. Can you believe it's been so long since we started this process?!
For the past year, we've been waiting for the Russian government (4 different "ministries" involved) to issue our adoption agency reaccreditation. It's kind of like renewing a license each year. It seems there have been a lot of mysterious hold ups and these ministries have been very slow to act. And it's not just our agency. In fact, since April of 2006, Russia had not renewed any accreditations. :(
However, after this very, very long wait... we just learned that there are 5 agencies that will finally receive their accreditation certificates this week. Our agency (America World Adoption Agency) just notified us that they expect to be in the next group to receive accreditation. Hopefully, in the next 1-2 months things will be up and running again!
Now, we still may have a long wait ahead of us before we are matched with our child(ren). But, all of this reaccreditation news is very encouraging. So, we continue to hold on, with confidence, that this is truly God's plan for us and the way we are meant to grow our family.
Thanks for checking in! Hopefully we'll have more news soon! And Happy Fourth of July!
For the past year, we've been waiting for the Russian government (4 different "ministries" involved) to issue our adoption agency reaccreditation. It's kind of like renewing a license each year. It seems there have been a lot of mysterious hold ups and these ministries have been very slow to act. And it's not just our agency. In fact, since April of 2006, Russia had not renewed any accreditations. :(
However, after this very, very long wait... we just learned that there are 5 agencies that will finally receive their accreditation certificates this week. Our agency (America World Adoption Agency) just notified us that they expect to be in the next group to receive accreditation. Hopefully, in the next 1-2 months things will be up and running again!
Now, we still may have a long wait ahead of us before we are matched with our child(ren). But, all of this reaccreditation news is very encouraging. So, we continue to hold on, with confidence, that this is truly God's plan for us and the way we are meant to grow our family.
Thanks for checking in! Hopefully we'll have more news soon! And Happy Fourth of July!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)