My Friend Memory Match

In our home we have started a more detailed preschool home school environment since Liberty has gone off to preschool. We have always done ABC Mouse, but we started to incorporate lesson plans in with the ABC Mouse activities. I have found that the new lesson plans and activities keep the girls attention better and they also really love it! The girls learned some of the following things; how to use glue, how to to clean up our toys/where things belong, different games, face and body parts, how to make and play with play dough, the weather, and so much more.

My Friend Memory Match

I am especially proud of the My Friend Memory Match. Liberty is getting very good at this game, and Madison, well she just likes to look at the pictures and name everyone, but it is still really fun to watch them play either way. It was also a fun way for the girls to recognize each other's and their own names. I also imagine this may be a fun way to teach children how to use scissors and glue. However, only one of the three of these kids are mature enough, so I chose to just make them and let the game be the learning/fun part. I would very much so recommend this for any home daycare or possibly small preschool!

The supplies you need are as follows:

• You will need 2 photos of each child for each set of the game you would like to make. (Example: I had 3 children. Since I need 2 of each photo per set that is 6 photos in one set, so 18 total photos overall.)

6 Photos = 1 Set

• Some kind of circle cutter (or a circle you can use to trace to cut around)
• Scissors
• Cardboard
• Some kind of glue (I used a glue runner, but I am sure any glue would work)
• A small ziplock bag for each child to store their Memory Match game in.

This game really did not take long to make.

It is very simple to make once you have all the supplies ready.

1. Cut out the photos in the shape of a circle.

2. Cut out matching circles in the cardboard.

3. Glue the photos to one side of the cardboard.

4. Then show the kids how the game works by flipping over 2 cards at a time until you get a match then setting the match aside and continuing until you find all the matches.

5. Label the ziplock bags "My Friend Memory Match" and send home or keep at home (in my case).

Seriously simple!

My girls love this game!

Our Broken Heart

Jason and I have been praying over the last couple of weeks (and really months since the closure of One World Adoption Services) for guidance on whether or not to continue with the adoption. Sadly we have come to the decision to not proceed with adopting. I have felt from the beginning of this process that it was the right thing to do and that he is our son. However, with all of the factors in this adoption we have decided not to proceed. Maybe one day we will do foster care and possibly adopt through there, but I don’t see that happening in our near future.

Image courtesy of cuteimages/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net 

Here are the factors that lead to our decision; our agency closed, he is back with his birth mother, the DGM is still not issuing exit letters, he would have to make a very dangerous trip from Lubumbashi to Kinshasa after the adoption was finalized, and the expenses if we were to continue would be the same as if we were starting all over.

The first and largest obstacle was the closure of OWAS. Ever since then we have been battling to get a new agency.  With the suspension on exit letters the majority of agencies have written right on their business website that they are not taking on new clients for the program at this time. We still tried contacting 5 agencies! One of which was not accepting new applicants. Two of which never returned our phone calls. One of which returned back to us almost too quickly. They didn’t look into our personal case well enough and still came back with a fee estimate that was way too expensive. Finally, we found an agency that was honest kind and thorough, but in the end still came back with a fee estimate that was high above what we are able to pay.

During the process of contacting the new potential agency and emailing back and forth with the lawyer we were informed that he had been returned to his birth mother. The condition of the orphanage had degraded terribly and his birth mother made the decision to remove him from the orphanage. The lawyer has assured us that the birth mother still wants to relinquish him to us, but I feel like we would be taking him from his birth home. It is a different feeling when he is in an orphanage. I wish we were able to have a better understanding of why his birth mother is placing him up for adoption, but I don’t know if we will or would ever know. My assumption is that she wants him to receive the medical care that he may need in order to fix his legs, because his other 7 siblings are remaining in their home. This is only an assumption though and that could be far from what she is really feeling.

Also, the DGM is still not issuing exit letters. That has been a battle since September of last year. We were hoping by now that they would be issuing exit letters, but there has been little movement to make us believe that is a possibility any time soon.

Also, after all of the obstacles above we realized that this little sweet 4 year old boy would have to travel through the country to meet us in Kinshasa after the adoption was finalized. I have heard of the horrors of the country from books, the news, and missionaries that have traveled there. I worry for his safety and his companion’s safety.

Then finally we received a fee from an honest kind hard working agency that was high above what we are able to afford. Before the closure of OWAS we invested $25,000 with an expectation to have a remainder of $13,000. Then after working with the new agency and lawyer over the last couple of months we received a new estimate of $28,000. That means in the end after the adoption was finalized and he was home with us we would have invested $53,000. Plus, it really wouldn't be a sure thing until he was home.

If we had one or two of the above issues we would feel more open to continuing, but there is just too many what ifs and uncertainty with everything. It breaks my heart to no longer be able to proceed with adopting the sweet boy we have come to know as our son. We have poured a lot of emotion and work into this adoption. I will always love and remember him.

A reminder to people out there we are very heart broken about not being able to proceed with this adoption and need words of love and kindness not judgment or criticism.

Libby's 3 Now!

Liberty

Three years already! Where did the time go? It feels like just yesterday she was a baby in my arms now she is off to Pre-K. Liberty is as always my shy smart beautiful girlie. I love her so much and feel so blessed to be her mom. :-D

Sweet Baby Libby Day 1

Sweet Big Girl Libby 3 Years Old

I was really hoping this year Liberty would be old enough to answer the questions on her Yearly Questioner, but with her 40% delay in speech I guess we will have to hope for next year.

Yearly Questionnaire

1.  How old are you?

  She kept saying "2", but by the end of the day I think she got "3" :-)

2.  What is your favorite color?

  She doesn't have a favorite, but she wears a lot of pink! 

3.  What is your favorite game?

  She loves "Duck, Duck, Goose" and Chasing Games

4.  What is your favorite food?

  She is obsessed with toast lately!

5.  What is your favorite song?

  She loves "The Teddy Bears Picnic".

6.  What is your favorite thing to do?

  She loves to play with baby dolls.

7.  Who are your best friends?

  She has 2 friends she gets along with really well Scout and Adalyn. They always seem to have a good time together. :-)

8.    How are you the same as your mom?

  She is the same as me by how she is so clean and organized!

9.    How are you different from your mom?

  She is different from me by how she like water so much! 

10.    How are you the same as your dad?

  She is shy and silly like her daddy.

11.    How are you different from you dad?

  I don't think she has really any differences from her dad.

12.    What three words best describe you?

  Sweet, Silly, and Shy

13.    What talents do you have?

  She is very precise in everything she does. 

Liberty's Birthday Pool Party

A couple months back, in July, I decided to make Libby's Birthday Party a Pool Party. At the time everyone I asked were like "oh yeah it will still be warm enough". Then it got cold surprisingly cold. :-/ The day of the party it was cloudy which was fine, because the weather was still supposed to be in the 80's. Then as I was setting up the pool it got windy too. I mean it can be cloudy, but it can't be windy too! Ahh! Oh man I went into panic mode. Right before the party though the sun came out and it was beautiful for the whole party! Such a fun time with family and friends! Here are a ton of photos from her fun day! :-D

Liberty was so excited for her Birthday!

Madison couldn't wait to get in the pool.

Madison Without Liberty

 Madison's whole life has been with Libby by her side. There has not been a lot of times where they are separate for long periods of time. When we left Libby at school the first thing she says when we get in the car is "Libby home". We had to explain to her again that she gets to be home with mommy and my daycare child while Libby is at school and then we will be back for Liberty at the end of the day. Then at home she kept making the sad crying noises. She was so upset.

Once our daycare friend arrived though Madison realized she can have fun without her big sissy around. Then she enjoyed ABC Mouse, a trip to the Library, and some fun playing at the park. It was fun to see her as an independent girlie away from her sissy.

Enjoying coloring during ABC Mouse.

Reading a football book at the library!

Going down the slide at the park.

Liberty's 1st Day of Pre-K

Oh my goodness! Liberty's first day of Pre-K has arrived! We have been talking about it with her for months, and I felt like it still arrived too fast. It was just suddenly here!

First Day of Pre-K
Thank you to this site for the adorable prints idea! 

Madison wanted her picture taken too!

Anyways, this morning I was awake at 5am as if it was my first day of school. Bahahaha! I personally was ready to go by six, which meant I was able to make some delicious toast, eggs, and strawberries for breakfast before everyone else was awake. The girls were up about 7 and surprisingly we were ready to go before 7:30. I was so thankful we were able to get a few cute photos of the girls in front of the house. We arrived at the school pretty early, and I was glad to have some time to just take it in. Thankfully they allowed us to take Libby into her classroom. I don't think she really knew what to expect, and I was probably quicker to leave than Jason would have liked. It was just so hard. She has never been anywhere but home with me. 

Liberty loved watching the school buses!

I love that this has the shadows of myself, Jason and Madison. :-)

She has her own cubby.

She needed a little help to pick out her picture...

... and then place it in the school house.

Awe she kissed Madison and Daddy goodbye.
I was the first to give her a kiss. I think I was trying to avoid crying.

Then we were home just Madison and I with Libby off to school and daddy off to work. It was strange, and I have never been more grateful to have a daycare child arrive!

The end of her first day!!!!

I think her first day went okay. Her teacher said she was "shell shocked", so she mostly just stood back quietly and watched everything. She ate okay at snack, but she didn't eat any of her lunch. I am not too surprised that she didn't eat her lunch, since they give them lunch at 10:30 which to me is way early. We had a very eventfully fun day!