Well, here we go again!

Ruth has a fever now.
Very low grade, but enough for me to drug her & send her to bed!

Tonight is a “random stream of consciousness” post.

A bit of parenting, a bit of adoption “stuff”

& finally, a bit of kitchen success!

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OK, how can we get Ruth to STOP torturing her brother.

I kid you not-at least 10-15 times a day.

The other day-oh, yeah, the first day Natty had a fever (106, remember?) we were all sitting on the couch together watching TV & waiting for Dave to come home & take over child care so I could take Natty to the ER. Ruth picks up a toy hammer & hits him on the head.

Help! I’m not sure the child will make it to his second birthday!!!

Any ideas? It is very hard to separate them due to the layout of our house.

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So, Ana has suddenly become a voracious reader.
You know how it is. It just clicks & they take off!
She is reading anything she can get her hands on!!!

She loves anything to do with horses &

several people have given her “horse stories.”

As she devoured this latest one, she told me one day,

“Mom, Tiffany didn’t know she was adopted.”

(She almost always gives me no context,

so my first response was, “HUH?!?! Who IN THE WORLD is Tiffany???”)

“Well, Mom, this girl in the horse story I’m reading.

Her mommy & daddy didn’t tell her she was adopted.

Her brother told her & he told her to keep it a secret.”

(My mind is going a mile a minute-& I’m praying I get some extra wisdom!!)

I thought-“I might need to get my hands on this little book, huh?

I hope the attitudes toward adoption are something we want to foster!”

So, that night, I picked it up & started reading.

(Now, I ask you, if you’re not a mom, would you ever pick up a 2nd grader’s horse book??? I can think of a whole lot of ways I’d RATHER spend my reading time. Ha!!! Ha!!!)

Turns out it’s fine.

Matter of fact, it was probably GREAT.

The heroine is very open about how she feels about her adoption,

& it gave Ana a glimpse into what our other kids may feel one day.

Ana & I sat down & discussed that Ruth & Natty & her can always talk to each other about the adoptions. I was able to tell her that there may be questions about it that Natty & Ruth have for her that she can’t answer.

& Ana said, “Like questions about their birth mama?”

Ahhhh……wise beyond her years.

“Yes, Ana. Like that. Or ones about their birth family.”

I told her that Daddy & I know some more than her,

& that some of that is information that we will share with them when & if they want it.

And she can ask questions.

We may not be able to answer them all,

but we will sure always be open to talking about it-

with her, with Ruthie & with Natty.

It will never be the elephant in the room in our home, so to speak.

Who knew that reading a simple children’s book would open up a good conversation that relates to our lives-all of our lives-right now?

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& finally, the kitchen success!

Do you know what this is:

I was SO excited when I found it yesterday, & it helped round out our Guatemalan meal of Pepian de Pollo (a chicken soup) & Frijoles Negros (refried black beans) perfectly!

I bet you know!