My youngest child (adopted) is three years old. He is youngest of a sibling group of five, came to us through the foster care system. He is youngest of 26 children and in our “boy minority” – boys 6, girls 20. He also has ADHD big time. We think he’s a riot, absolutely hysterical. However, we may be biased as he has also been expelled from three daycares (yes, they used the word ‘expelled’). But, every day he does things that make us laugh.

From a few minutes this afternoon:

Oprah is showing on a television. Joey (son)... more

When I was a pap- preadoptive parent, my favorite thing to do in my spare time was to search the message boards for pictures & stories of adopted children. I especially loved the before & after pictures. I loved seeing the children thrive and grow. When I met Livi I was in love. She had some odd bruises & scratches on her face and she had bright violet medicine covering them, they shaved off a big section of her... more

Wow. Today has been a banner day for me. Nothing like a full throttled hissyfit first thing in the morning to clear one's head and light a fire under one's own lazy derriere. Does wonders for the skin, too. And talk about one helluva mood elevator. Who needs Prozac when you can just go on a rant? I'll have to remember that in the future. Hey. Maybe that's how some people become addicted to being in a perpetual snit all the darned time. It has its benefits. Hmm. I'll have to remember that as well. I could easily become one of the snit addicts. Ha. Snit addict.... more

For the past week I have been visiting in Atlanta with some loved ones and helping to care for their three little ones (ages 1, 4 and 6) because the Mommy of the bunch was temporarily incapacitated by major surgery. You can read all about my visit over on the older adoptive parenting blog. Because of the circumstances I really had to roll up my sleeves and get to work as soon as I arrived in town. I was busy as heck and thankful as all get out that my only responsibility was to care for the children and... more

I bet you thought I forgot about Love Thursday.... I did not forget. I just needed a little inspiration and the sun shining was calling me to get outdoors. I actually took this picture today. We had a break in the crummy weather. It was snowing and freezing last week and today its in the mid 60's and sunny. Go figure. Its a wonder were not all sick with these constant changes. Enough venting about the crazy weather. We headed off to the playground for some fun. They already took the swings down so we were left with the slides.I think I love this picture... more

I take many, many pictures of my daughter. I seldom leave the house without the camera. It got to the point I had so many saved to my computer. You know how it is if you have a digital camera. Its easy to forget about some and you never get around to getting them printed out.I vowed to order them and put them in an album. I just uploaded 100 pictures to Shutterfly from the past month. I order them in batches. They must love me.I have been really pleased with... more

I love my daughter’s enthusiasm for life... she can go down the slide forty times in a row and each time she reaches the bottom she shouts “ Yippee & Yeah” and throws her hands in the air and claps her hands. Every time she reaches the bottom of the slide she does this and it never gets old. I clap right along with her. The look on her face each time is pure joy. I wonder at what point do we lose that zest for life. The pure joy of truly living in each moment.

If being a Mom has taught me anything, it has taught me to enjoy the small stuff... more

Well, it is T-minus one and counting. We load up the bought and paid for gas guzzling SUV and head out to ATL for a two week visit with my wonderful in-laws. I've mentioned before (I forget if it was on this blog or another one) that my kids have declared this "the best sumnmer ever." I have mentioned, also, that they say that every summer. However, I think that they just might be right about this summer. There are a couple of reasons for that.

First, the kids have been having a blast at day camp with all of their friends. I have been especially thrilled because the camp is run by our... more

In psychobabble terms, today's post may well reflect the process of "undoing." I'll spare everybody the boring textbook lecture on that psychonalytic construct. Besides, there's not enough room to begin to discuss it. But, I started laughing out loud when I, at first, "thought" that I had suddenly come up with the theme for my next topic: Abrecadabra! Turning bad days into good. I thought this would essentially be a post on the joys of adoptive parenting. Hmm. I smell a rat.

I write for three days straight about some very personal and very intense feelings on the topic of adoption remorse. Right? Then, "out of the blue" I decide (eureka!) I'll post on how terrific it is to be an adoptive... more