Big Sisters and Little Brothers

So, this is what happens when

you have a big sister

with time on her hands

and a bag of hair ties. 

My Daughter

Last week, my baby turned eleven.  ELEVEN!!!

How could she have grown up so fast.

How could I be old enough to have

an eleven year old daughter.

Two days before her birthday, she informed me

that when she turned eleven, she would be a "preteen".

She was understandably excited about this milestone.

Me, not so much.

You see, she was almost six when she came to live with us.

She was eight by the time her adoption was finalized.

She, and I, worked very hard to form an attachment

that she desperately needed.

I'm not ready to let her go.

I'm not ready to kiss her early years good-bye.

I'm not ready to go through the process of letting

her separate from me.

Yet, I know I have to.

I have to encourage her to become the young woman

that she will grow into.

I have to be available to love, guide, nurture,

and eventually let go of my baby.

It occurred to me, that no matter how hard I try

to fight it, I can't fight time.

She will grow up.

I can either make it easier for her or harder for her.

I can either fight it or roll with it.

I can either grieve the years that I didn't have her early or

celebrate the years that I have had her in my life.

And so this has become my prayer, that I will be

the mother that she needs, the mother that she deserves.

That I will celebrate, with her, as she grows.

I read once, that children adopted older, often struggle the

most in their teen years.  They worked so hard

to attach, and now they have to work so hard to become individuals.

They are often angrier with their adoptive mothers, because they have

so much anger at their birth mothers.  I don't know if this is true or not.

I imagine it could be.  D. will be my first teenager, and so I pray that the Lord

will give me wisdom, patience, and love.  That she, and I, will

grow closer during these upcoming years. That I will enjoy

these "preteen" years as much as I've enjoyed all of the other years leading up

to this, her eleventh birthday.

Our Summer in Pictures (and a few words of course)

Our summer has been filled with 

everything that summer is supposed to be filled with. 

We've enjoyed trips to a local water park,

where the older two kids

went down a super big water slide, and

nearly gave their mother

a heart attack.

We celebrated the fourth of July

by going to a terrific parade, in this little tiny 

village.

It's one of the oldest parades

in the state of New York.

The kids especially loved the fire men and, of course,

the candy.

We watched a fire works show,

and enjoyed sword fights

with light sabers.

K. and D. both

learned how

to kayak this summer.

They were so proud to be able to do this on their own.

We especially enjoyed a family run.

P. and Baby J. were introduced to the sport of running for 

the first time.

We took a camping trip, in

a tent.

Swam in a lake up north.

Enjoyed nature,

hiking,

and the beauty of the Adirondack mountains.

K. was especially proud to make it to the top

of the mountain.

We hiked the bridle trail of

an old girl scout camp.

No summer is complete without at least one

trip to a local fair.

The kids LOVED the rides, the food, and 

staying out way past their bed time.

I can't believe how fast our summer has flown.

We have packed a ton of fun into two very short months.

I hope your summer was as much fun as ours

has been.