My Life - Take Two

Real Canadian Kids

2010-09-17T21:03:00.003-06:00

Nelson rushing down the ice (the little guy all hunched over).

Nelson on the blue line.

Christolla off to her first practice.

Tough guy

Trying out her new hockey gear.

Summer in Photo's # 5

2010-09-09T07:00:00.000-06:00

2nd climb of the day - up a chimney.

Almost to the top.

Climbing down after putting a little bravery chalk on his hands.

Christolla's second climb.

In the crack.
Heading back down. Such a girlie even rock climbs in skorts. :)

Nelsons last climb, getting braver.

Made it to the tree like he wanted.

Last descent was easy he came down like an old pro.

Summer in Photo's # 4

2010-09-08T07:00:00.001-06:00

Nelson's first climb of the day & first in Squamish, B.C. Different kind of rock climbing here, the rocks are flat & you crack climb.

Having a wee moment to compose himself.

Poser.

They were naturals & went up no problem, it was coming down Nelson struggled with.

Almost at the top. Paul in the background putting up the ropes for their next climb.

Start of Christolla's first climb of the day.
Christolla did great.

Off she goes........

Going up the crack.

Swimming in the freezing cold water. None of them last very long.

Christolla & Paul.
Beautiful area!
Auntie Cher.
At the bottom of Shannon falls.

Paul & Ash admiring the scenery.

Beautiful Shannon Falls in Squamish, BC

Hiking out of the falls.

Cuddling Gizmo.
Start of another beautiful day on the West Coast.

Nelson said he was "FULL" & this is proof if you need to see it to believe it.

Swimming in the ocean.

Busy playing.

Christolla on the beach with the cruise ship in the harbor in the background.

Warming up after swimming. He cools down real quick & has to go warm in the sun frequently.

Christolla trying out her new pink mask, snorkel & fins.

A Two Tooth Kind of Day

2010-09-06T20:33:00.003-06:00

I pulled Nelson's first tooth this morning, I barely had to touch it & it was out.

He didn't cry or anything but he looked a little shocked in this photo.

Showing off his tooth & anticipating the tooth fairy visiting tonight.

Christolla's tooth was barely hanging on & she has been having such trouble eating; so after I brushed her teeth today I pulled it easily.

She's an old pro at the tooth loss thing though so she took it like a trooper.

First Day of School

2010-09-06T14:11:00.006-06:00

Grade 1 - here she comes........................!!!!!

Ready to go.

Meeting her teacher Mme Alex for the first time.

Looking a little more nervous.

After school - a few tears, a tummy & headache - she even had a bit of a fever; but she still claimed she liked it. I think she just got herself worked up & made herself sick. She didn't eat any of her lunch either, which is unheard of.

Nelson first day of Kindergarten.

Nelson's 1st day of Kindergarten & Christolla's 2nd day of grade 1.

Walking to the school bus stop for the very first time. I think they were both a little nervous.

Gulp.......... they look so big.

First school bus ride - oh my, they were more excited about this ride than they were about school. :)

Lined up with the kids to go into school. Christolla is looking really tall this year - they grew a LOT over the summer.

Nelson in front of the "big kids school".

Checking out everything in the classroom.

Blowing off steam on the zip line after school.

Playing with his two new buddies!

Summer in Photos # 3

2010-08-31T00:58:00.004-06:00

Christolla's 7th Birthday.

Sparklers added to the fun.

This little girl was priceless, she looked terrified of the sparkler.

Nelson looking cute.

Brandon sporting the party hat.

Pretty soon she will be too big to sit on my knee - wow she grew like crazy this summer.

Admiring her new flippers while chatting on the phone to Auntie.

Mermaid pose.
Brandon hiding behind a dog & the littles playing with the new Barbies.

Christolla's first Barbie dolls from her big brother - she was thrilled.

Summer in Photos # 2

2010-08-31T00:35:00.004-06:00

Out for a walk.
Kids showing some of their 'tude.

Another day, another bench & another dog.

Side view of first corn row attempt.

Top view of first corn row attempt.

At the beach.
Playing with the now lost surf board.

Nelson & James frolicking in the water.

I know - blurry, but I love this photo of Nelson.

Christolla showing her first injury - three stitches to the eyebrow.

Summer in Photos # 1

2010-08-31T00:10:00.004-06:00

Helping out with that last one.

Happy 5th birthday baby boy! We missed you Ashley & Paul!

Jen lighting the candles for Nelson.

He chose this cake on his own & was thrilled with it!!!
Nelson's first birthday party.

Christolla looking pretty.

Summers Coming to An End......

2010-08-30T22:24:00.006-06:00

It's been a long time since I have sat down & attempted to put pen to paper (so to speak) as it felt like it was just another task on the endless task list. I have to admit; life is hard work and I don't have the energy I used too.

Summer is winding down & the kids are almost excited as I am that they are back to school in TWO days!!!! I am not one of those Mom's that mourn their babies heading out to school. I will take the day off work & escort my little darlings to their new school, take photos for prosperity, shed tears of joy & relax with a large coffee and Baileys & savor the sound of silence. Ahhhh......

Nelson has real issues with change & any change in routine can turn my sweet young boy into a raging, unreasonable 5 year old monster. The last two weeks of pre-school the nightmare began as summer holidays loomed. He did stabilize but the last two weeks with school on the horizon his moods swings would put a teen girl to shame. Defiance, attitude with the flair of a drama queen. Nope - this Momma's smiling.

We did take a wonderful two week vacation to shake up Auntie Cher's peaceful world & enjoy the west coast. Plus a side trip to visit with Ashley & Paul in Squamish - as they took the summer off work, pitched a tent & scaled the face of mountains all summer. The area they were staying in was so serene & beautiful. In contract the summer here was awful! During working hours we did have some nice weather, but I am in a air conditioned high rise all day & like clock work at quiting time it would start to rain for the remainder of the evening. We also had some wild electrical storms that would find my dogs wrapped around my head & vibrating so violently that sleep would be impossible - good times. We had to drive to Vancouver to get away from the rain this summer - how ironic is that?

I'll leave you with a photo diary of the summer & will post more in the days to come.

Don't forget Haiti - Tent City

2010-07-20T16:17:00.002-06:00

Don't forget Haiti: Tent City Video produced by Ryan Booth

Ryan said:it's always tricky making videos like this. best case, you tell one small part of a small story from one place at a certain point in time and it begins to give people a sense of scale. for instance, i hope that, when we open with the wide shot passing rows and rows of tents that we get a sense of the scale. then we step into one tent and hear one story. as we exit the tent city we end with another wide shot of rows and rows of tents... hopefully, through that one small interaction, we begin to sense the enormity of the situation. a massive tragedy made up of regular people just trying to find a place to sleep and some food to eat. Please Don't Forget Haiti

Copied without permission from the Livesay's Blog.

Easter Weekend at the Farm

2010-04-10T14:05:00.010-06:00

Nelson, Taya, Brett & Christolla exploring.

Zora happy to run around.

Lots of room to run.

Looks like Mason is smiling, big dog who thinks he is a lap dog.

Robert & one of the cats (can't remember who).

Coming back from feeding the cows.

Chore time.

Nelson happy to be riding in the tractor.

Diamond.

Nelson the cowboy sitting on Diamond with Jen & Christolla.

Horses relaxing.

Uncle Glenn, Jenn & Christolla weighing one of the calfs.

Joanne, me & a calf.

All the cousins having fun.

Christolla getting weighed.

Uncle Glenn weighing Nelson.

Brand new baby calf after a traumatic breech birth & needing to be pulled.

Moving baby back out to the barn so Mom & baby can bond.

So cute, he was a big boy - poor Mama.

We had a great time spending Easter at the farm. It's wonderful for city kids to have somewhere in the country to go too. Thanks Glenn, Joanne, Jennifer, Robert & Brett for opening up your hearts & home to us. Love you!

Two Years - & Lots of Changes

2010-03-28T13:25:00.007-06:00

Two years has flown by at an unbelievable rate, if only the wait to bring them home had happened as quickly. The last two years has spanned the spectrum between a constant fight through to extreme happiness. It certainly hasn't been an easy ride, but then I knew it wouldn't be - but the reality can really smack you in the side of the head sometime.

Christolla was my problem child to begin with - unruly, loud, defiant & constantly challenging me. Her constant testing & attitude made her my most difficult to manage child. She still is a little sassy & strong willed at times but she has turned into a lovely six year old. Now she can be reasoned with & will actually even obey sometimes. She now is a joy to take out in public & even loves to help while we shop. She still remembers Haiti & some of the people there but even that is beginning to fade. We ran into a Haitian gentleman one day a couple of weeks ago & when he spoke to her in Kreyol; she sadly no longer understood any of it.

Christolla really struggled to learn her colors, abc's, shapes & I was certain she had some major learning disabilities & would always struggle. I wish I could say I was always patient as I tried to teach her, but I found it very difficult to start at square one each day as she struggled like she had never even seen the concept before. Then one day almost a year home; a switch just flipped as connections were finally made in her brain & she was understanding & you could see she just wanted to devour & soak up as much knowlege as she could. Since that time she has really developed into a smart little girl who is eager to learn.

I held her back one year in school so she is currently in Kindergarten as she had so much too learn & was so far behind her peers. Now she is reading & she probably would have done great in grade one - I am amazed at the giant strides she has made. Next year I am moving both the kids to a French immersion program so that will be a challenge for her in grade one.

She is loving, sweet & affectionate but still a little insecure. She says "I love you Mommy" multiple times a day & just needs the extra reinforcement that all is still well in her world. Frequently she asks if I am her Mommy forever & why did it take me so long to pick her up from the orphanage. I am not sure if she will ever get over her early childhood losses or if she will always struggle with insecurity.

Mr. Nelson - well he is another story................ he started out a much less defiant & much more a active toddler who was into everything. He still had so much baby in him he was easy to fall in love with. Now as a four year old he has turned into a defiant, cheeky little spit-fire that can charm the socks off of a snake. He compliments people constantly, even strangers while we are out & about, that they are beautiful or some other sweet compliment. He loves women & can bat those long eye lashes & flash that beautiful smile & has all the ladies eating out of the palm of his hand. He is going to be a handful in his teenage years so anyone with teenage daughters better be extra careful.

His newest trick is to throw temper tantrums like a two year old when he isn't getting his way at both home & school. He still growls sometimes & then it usually escalates until he is yelling, stomping his feet or flopping around on the furniture like a fish out of water. I tell him constantly that I can't wait until he is six years old. :)

He doesn't know all of his letters or numbers yet but to be completely honest I was so worried about getting Christolla up to speed that I haven't pushed him as much. I will have to switch the focus to Nelson now to prepare him for Kindergarten next year. He is in his second year of pre-school & loves going there.

Dieunelson doesn't remember Haiti at all or any of the kids from the orphanage any more.

They are both super HIGH energy kids & they are both still early risers & are ready & rearing to go each day before 7am. Me, well not so high energy & I am a night owl & like to sleep in on the weekends. I think this was some kind of wicked joke to give me kids that are the polar opposite.

Both kids want to play hockey so bad in the fall; I hope I can work out a schedule & have the finances in place to make that a reality for them. We just finished their first set of skating lessons yesterday & will start their second set in a couple of weeks. They are both actually starting to skate; compared to their walking on the ice that they were doing previously. Christolla is skating with one leg, kind of like she was skateboarding but on the very last lesson Nelson actually starting skating! I think this next set of lessons they will both show great progress. They finished swimming lessons a couple of weeks ago & now are taking private lessons with their big sis Ashley. They are doing amazing & will even jump off the diving board & swim to the edge in the deep water with very little assistance. Christolla doesn't like floating on her back & is a little more nervous but she is really starting to swim. Nelson - well he has no fear - he is up for anything.

We just starting private lessons at the climbing wall with Ashley too. So far we have only had one class but they did better than expected. I am just trying to find some activities to expend some of their energy from being cooped up all winter.

They are amazing little people & I can't wait to see how much they grow & change in the next year. It is really amazing how two little kids can change & influence your life. I wish I was younger & had the finances to adopt some of the newest orphans in Haiti. I think of all the struggles we had at the beginning & my littles had not experienced the trauma of an earth quake. The new wave of orphans coming out of Haiti are going to have even bigger struggles. My heart hurts for Haiti as they approach the rainy season & I just feel like I need to go there to help at some point. Now that I have seen the poverty & living conditions of the Haitian people I just can't pretend it doesn't exist. I do have plans to take the kids back to Haiti for a visit some time in the future.

In case anyone is wondering my kids bio family in Haiti are ok. They do not live in Port au Prince so did not sustain any damage to their home. Even Haitians who were spared the devastation of the earth quakes wrath are still suffering greatly though as food prices have escalated making even staples unobtainable to the majority. It's hard to believe that people can have less than nothing. There is not a quick fix for Haiti, it will be many many years before they recover.

March 5, 2010 - 2nd Homecoming Anniversary.

March 5, 2009 - 1st Homecoming Anniversary.

March 2008 - Photo before departing the orphanage.

March 2008 - Kids Bio Family in Haiti.

March 2008 - Kids with their bio parents.

Urgent Prayers Needed

2010-02-23T00:00:00.002-07:00

Copied from another ladies blog (Sarah http://ourhaitianjourney.blogspot.com/) - with only adding my kids names instead of hers.

Six children from Christolla & Dieunelsons orphanage have been taken by UNICEF. The escorts and adoptive parents who were with them were accused of child trafficking. Please visit this blog and read the past few posts so you understand what is going on: http://www.childrenofthepromise.blogspot.com

None of the adults involved are being held or charged with any crimes. These children had all the paperwork that they needed in order to be able to leave to come to the USA to be with the adoptive parents. They even had approval from the PM of Haiti as they are required to have in order to leave. This entire situation is absurd and alarming... the children are without basic needs being met and at the very least they should allow the children to return to the orphanage that has water, food, baby bottles, medication etc. One of the babies is now sick. They need your prayers.CNN will be covering the story at 10pm EST. Please tune in and keep praying!!This could have been my kids... and this is his friends... we are just heartbroken for these children who have already lived through so much in their short lives!!

A Note From the Lawyer We Used

2010-01-13T21:51:00.002-07:00

In the photo below; on the left-hand side; was the lawyers office of Dr. Jacob Bernard that completed my adoptions for me.

This is a note from Dr. Bernard,

"IT WAS ABOUT 4:50P.M, I STEPPED UP INTO THE MAYOR'S OFFICE ON MY WAY BACK HOME FROM WORK. AS I JUST ARRIVED ON THE 2ND FLOOR, THE BUILDING COLLAPSED ON EVERYBODY WITHIN SECONDS . THE ROOF CAME DOWN OVER OUR HEADS. I WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO DESCRIBE THIS MIRACLE. I WAS ONE STEP TO DEATH, BUT PEACEFUL, TRUSTING THAT MY LIFE WAS IN GOD'S HAND. MY MIGHTY GOD GOT ME OUT SAFELY. AS I JUMPED FROM THE 2ND FLOOR INTO ALL THE DEBRIS, I GOT HURT ON MY LEFT SIDE. HOWEVER, I AM SAFE AND SOUND...IT IS A LONG LONG STORY.WHAT A MIRACLE!WHAT A GOD THAT WE ARE SERVING! HE SURELY IS NOT DONE YET WITH ME.WHEN I GOT HOME, CLAUDETTE AND THE OTHERS WERE FINE, BUT THE GUEST HOUSE SHOOK UP SO BAD THAT THE WATER COOLER, BOOK SHELVES FULL OF BOOKS, AND CABINETS FELL ON THE FLOORS. AS I AM WRITING THIS EMAIL, THE HOUSE IS STILL SHAKING UP. WE WILL SLEEP OUT SIDE, UNDER THE FRONT PORCH."

That was yesterday & they were all sleeping outside again tonight. Dr. Bernard is a US educated lawyer that also runs an orphange called NLL - New Life Link.

Numb

2010-01-13T21:41:00.002-07:00

As the news feeds continue to show more & more details regarding the devastation in Haiti I absolutely feel sick. Haiti is not equipped to deal with this kind of an emergency. There are no first responders. Luckily there are many NGO's & missionaries in the country that can help as Haiti waits for the world to respond. Please world respond...............

Christmas Day 2009

2010-01-11T23:33:00.004-07:00

I love this photo.

Bet you don't see anyone in Haiti carrying a toboggan on their head.

Ashley's 23rd Birthday

2010-01-11T22:53:00.005-07:00

Ash cracking Brandon up.

Ashley's T-Rex impersonation. hahahaha

Ashley has turned into such a beautiful person - I am so proud of her.

23 years - I can't believe it. No cake for my vegan girl, but strawberries dipped in chocolate is even better than cake.

Kids ate strawberries but they insisted on having a cupcake too. A birthday isn't a birthday without cake.

Wow, she can look so sweet.

December 2009

2010-01-11T22:22:00.003-07:00

The little kids decorated the tree this year.

Enjoying a hot chocolate after decorating the tree.

Bundled up to go shovel the walks. Everyone must purchase their children their own snow shovels. Best investment that I've made in a long time. :)

November 2009 - Photos

2010-01-11T22:06:00.002-07:00

Santa & smiley boy 2009.

Christolla showing her Dr. Kit from Santa. What I didn't capture was the tears & gnashing of teeth when she was called up to sit on Santa's lap. He was a good sport though & passed the gift through the crowd for her. Not sure why she panicked..............

Jenn, Noah & Denzel at the party.

The shutter speed is so slow I caught Noah juming off Santa's knee.

Sick of being sick.............

2009-11-12T20:56:00.003-07:00

So this is getting a little old & I know no one wants to hear me snivel & whine but this is getting ridiculous. We have been circulating these germs around our house since mid September. My little germ factories love to cough & sneeze on our food, wipe their snotty noses on the face clothes & towels, I even caught one using my tooth brush - UGGGGG & I just don't see an end to the madness.

I wish I had bought shares in disinfectant wipes, hand sanitizer, Cold FX & Kleenex. I have been faithfully popping 2 - 4 Cold FX daily, 4000 IU Vitamin D, Vitamin C, Multivitamin & we are still sick.

Brandon & I had a killer flu that knocked us both on our behinds; I missed a whole week of work & the side effects of that lingered for a couple of more weeks. Was it the dreaded H1N1 - who knows? I was too sick to go to the doctors until about 5 days had passed, then I went to Urgent Care & waited there for three hours & when no one had seen me yet I packed up, went home & crawled back into bed where I should have been to begin with.

Last weekend we actually had three whole DAYS where none of us were sick, no one had snot running down their face or were hacking up a lung. It was marvelous & I was so happy finally the old immune system was doing it job. We even spent some time with friends & saw a movie - it was great to do something normal for a change.

It was a short lived reprieve & we all have sore throats, coughing, & runny noses all over again.

I hope to get back to blogging when I actually have something to write about if we ever get out of the house again.

I guess the good news in all of this is we are definitely catching up on our sleep. My life sucks sometimes.

First Snow Day - brrrrr................

2009-10-13T21:16:00.005-06:00

It looks pretty, but it is too early for snow. Brrrr.............

Kids all geared up in their winter gear; eager to go outside & play in the snow. Good thing I dug out all their winter outer wear this weekend.

Kids making snow angels.

Good investment: snow shovels for kids - they are so eager to go out & try them out. They don't do a very good job but they sure do have fun with it.

Christolla laughing after throwing a shovel full of snow in Dieunelson's face.

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-10-13T13:26:00.006-06:00

We have lots to be thankful this year, good food, health, a house, a car, a job I really like, good friends, excellent extended family that we reconnected with; on both sides of the family this year and four great kids I am really proud of. They are all turning out to be such beautiful people.

A little untraditional, but Ashley is Vegan so our menu has to be adjusted. We had whole wheat spaghetti & tomato sauce, homemade Guacomole & red pepper hummus, a bagette, cheese for those of us that indulge & of course our usual meal menu item - raw veggies.

Ashley reading to Nelson at bedtime.

Ashley reading to both Christolla & Dieunelson.

Ashley's good buddy, Paul, who came & spent the day with us.

Playing.

Do those look like kissable lips to you?

My oldest daughter, Ash.

My youngest daughter, Christolla. Yes I know her pants are a little short, she has sprouted up like crazy over the summer. After nap time I need to dig through all their clothes & remove all the too small stuff AGAIN.

Two hammers, one night stand & approx two hours entertainment over two days while the kids beat it apart & then disposed of the carnage. I loved that old night stand & it served me well even in its desmise.

My oldest son, Brandon.

Brandon trying to get the pump out of the pond. I can usually leave it running & don't usually drain it until the end of October. This year it is already frozen in. It's going to be a long winter - Yuck.

Frozen pond, the pump created a frozen bubble over it - very cool.

The temps today was - 10 C or 14 F. Way to cold this early in the year - fall has not been long enough, most of the trees in my area still have all their leaves, lots haven't even turned color yet.
We missed a whole season. :(

Today's photos

2009-10-11T23:23:00.003-06:00

Nelson at bed time wearing one of Christollas sleep hats.

Christolla's new doo tonight at bed.

Nelson being silly at bed tonight.

Side view of her new hair style.

September in Photos

2009-10-11T22:37:00.005-06:00

I am so far behind in my blog posts I will just post some photos of the last month to catch up.

Christolla & Nelson at the beach.

James & Nelson.

Christolla in motion.

James & Nelson.

Sandra & all the kids.

James shivering in the water.

Kids chasing bubbles.

Goofy guy.

Kidsicles.

Side view of hair style.

Veil StyleChristolla starting to read - very early stages but it's coming.

They love books.

Sweet girl.

He loves these blocks.

Family Reunion - September 2009

2009-10-11T21:53:00.006-06:00

Aunty Peggy

Uncle Galen, Cousin Beverly & her daughter Patty.

Barbara & (his name is failing me at the moment).

Uncle Louis & cousin Charlie

Stella & cousin Ken.

Tara & baby.

Cousin Doug & Jeannie.

Cheryl

My daughter Ashley (showing results of latest climbing accident) & Aunty Edna.

Aunty Norma, Uncle Galen & cousin Ken.

Uncle Louie.

The whole Motley crew. :)

Aunty Edna, Cousin Alan & family.

Barry & Barbara.

First Day of Kindergarten

2009-08-30T22:51:00.004-06:00

Chrissy eager to go to the "Big Kids School".

The new teacher & a classmate with Christolla

Us girls.....

Corey, Angeline & Christolla (neighborhood friends & now classmates)

Final Good-Bye

2009-08-28T22:55:00.012-06:00

In Loving Memory of Eleanor Watson
August 9, 1924 - August 17, 2009

Life is busy................

Our family is spread all over Western Canada & as a result it seems the only time we all gather; sadly, is for funerals. As sad as it was to say our final good-byes to my Auntie Eleanor it was wonderful to connect to cousins, Aunts, Uncles & extended family I haven't seen in many years.

I missed taking photos of many so this is just a few that I managed to get.

Family shot - again missing many.

Olga
Breanne (oh I hope I spelled that right) , Linda & Bill

Mr. Nelson

Buella (sp?) & Albert

Larken & Christolla - just after Larken pulled Christolla's wiggly tooth & became her hero for ever more.

Larken, Cathrine, Leone & Wendell

Me - the kids cheesy grins are wearing off on me......

Auntie B teaching Christolla to knit.

Byron & Jill

Wendell & Chrissy

Larken. We logged a lot of time around this dining table.

Linda

Jill Breanne Baby Liam

Kids going for a quad ride with Larken - he even let them steer!

Nicole, Leone & Colleen

Baby Liam with his proud Grammy

Cathrine & Uncle Clarence

Kids having a blast in a big tub with lots of bubbles

Driving the lawn tractor too!

Christolla's 6th Birthday - July 27, 2009

2009-08-13T22:41:00.003-06:00

Feeling like a princess with her tiara & long hair.

Kids dancing together - an action shot.

Nelson serving me a piece of birthday cake he made for me out of toys.

Christolla & Zora

I wish he acted as angelic as he looks in this photo - oooh looks are deceiving. :)

I hope they always like each other.

Having fun dancing & swinging her hair.

Monster boy.

Brandon & the littles.

Sweet little birthday girl - absolute joy over a cupcake, I LOVE that.

I can't believe how big she is getting. What a change from last year.

Catch Up Posts

2009-08-13T22:19:00.006-06:00

Roxanne an old high school friend popped in to visit - I hadn't seen her in years & it was wonderful to get together again.

Roxannes Family - Jessica, Roxanne, Rebecca & Trevor (missing 1 daughter)

Me & the littles. I am in the process of putting hair extensions in Christollas hair so part is not finished.

Future musicians.

Photo Catch Up...... continued

2009-08-13T22:04:00.003-06:00

Christolla anxiously watching the lady prepare to pierce her ears.

She shed a few big tears but LOVES her new earrings. This was an early 6th birthday present.

Nelson cooking supper for the first time.

Christolla's first attempt at cooking over the hot coals.

Ashley, Nelson, Christolla returning to shore after a paddle around the lake.

Dieunelson's 4th Birthday

2009-06-25T01:44:00.004-06:00

We went out for Mexican food. Ashley with the littles.

Back home for birthday cake. Momma (as he calls me) & baby.

My two boys, Brandon & Nelson.

Ashley & Nelson, they both have such beautiful smiles.

Sweet little Christolla.

All the June birthdays are done now. We have one birthday per week for three consecutive weeks. We now have a month before the next party for Christolla.

Last Day of Pre-School & More Camping Photos

2009-06-25T01:30:00.003-06:00

Christolla's last day of pre-school with her teachers.

Dieunelson's sad it's his last day of pre-school, with his teachers

Riding a tire horse at the campsite.

Nelson LOVES trains & they had this little one that took kids on a little ride.

A BIG sand alligator on the beach. We just admired it & had no hand in its creation.

Busy............

2009-06-25T00:52:00.003-06:00

Camping on my Birthday.

Sandra & Christolla

Kids playing in the pool we set up in the campsite.

Sandra & James - a little muddy from the pool.

James catching a big bubble.

Things have been crazy busy here. Work is super busy so I go all day at work, evenings well they just fly by as well. The weather here has sucked as it seems that at about quiting time every evening is exactly when the rain starts. We have had some pretty impressive lightening & thunder storms.

Ashley is doing just fine after her fall & the compression fracture in her spine. She is pretty much back to normal. She is long boarding, back at work (she so surprised me that she is able to work so soon) & started training again for a triathalon she wants to do in the fall. Ahh to be young, healthy & super fit to aid your recovery.

I had my birthday out camping at a super family orientated campground with a wonderful beach & a nice shallow lake for young kids to wade & swim in. We went out with a friend & her little guy & had a great long weekend out of the city & relaxing.

She's Hurting.........

2009-06-09T22:00:00.003-06:00

My daughter Ashley LOVES, lives & breathes rock climbing. She went to Squamish, BC to go rock climbing for a week or so before her summer job starts up. Saturday night my worst nightmare became a reality.

Ashley fell about seven feet, landed on a root & broke her lumbar spine. She is out of hospital & staying at my sisters house in Vancouver now. She is in lots of pain & is moving pretty slowly but luckily she is at least moving, as she could have ended up paralized.

Ash went to Squamish on the bus & was to return the same way but she is not able to sit that long so she will fly home tomorrow night. Cher arranged to have a wheel chair to get her on & off the plane. Of course she can not lift her own bags or anything so we will take care of that for her.

I think her plans to lifeguard at a beach here in town is out the window for now. She could use all your prayers, postive vibes or healing energy each of you could muster. Thanks

Brandon's 21st Birthday

2009-06-06T15:03:00.009-06:00

Wow.......... I can't believe he is 21 years old already!

Meghan, Brandon & his Dad Randy.

Brandon with his other little sister Meghan.

Hmmmm............ I didn't get any photos of us with him. Not sure how that happened. :)

First Day on Two Wheels

2009-06-04T21:42:00.003-06:00

Getting geared up to try riding without training wheels.

She was very excited to try & learned really quickly.

She's off.

Concentrating hard on staying up. She never fell at all. Once she started she just took off like she had been riding forever.

It was all I could do to keep up with her & after awhile I gave up & just stood & took photos as she went by. :)

He's Off, Look Ma No Training Wheels

2009-06-04T21:26:00.003-06:00

Training wheels off today & Nelson had no sense of balance at all - Brandon holding him up.

He spent a lot of time on the pavement & hamming it up.

The knee pads saved this boy from injury today.

Good Catch ! My back is killing me, I had a real work out between the two kids.

...........and he's off & there's no stopping him now. It didn't take that long & after supper tonight I took the kids out again & they are both riding & gaining confidence. Nelson still has trouble starting on his own but other than that he is off to the races.

First Attempt at Yarn Braid Extensions

2009-06-01T20:46:00.009-06:00

Christolla loves her hair!

It was a long slow ordeal but the results were worth the effort. Christolla is so happy with her hair & couldn't wait to go to school today to show her friends. It took around ten hours over two days so it's time intensive but I had never braided under hand before nor tried to put in extensions or beads, so I was a super rookie. I watched a couple of videos on You Tube that showed how to do them & thought I can do this & I did. Yeahhhh. Christolla is amazingly patient & she just sat without complaining the whole time.

The last few braids are definetely tighter & look better than the first few attempts so next time I do her hair hopefully it looks better & goes a little quicker.

As soon as we finished her hair Christolla said "Mommy lets go outside & let the wind blow my hair."

I may have to cut the front braids a little shorter to prevent her from sucking on them but other than that we are happy with the results. Isn't she a cutie?

Bah Hum Bug.....................

2009-05-26T00:04:00.004-06:00

I knew it................. my taxes are being audited & I need to provide proof of all my adoption expenses plus copies of every single document ever given to me when my adoption was finalized. The great news is I am only missing one receipt out of everything so for that I am truly grateful. I am hoping the orphanage can come through & provide a copy of that one missing receipt & then I will be a happy girl.

I thought the insane paper chase was over but I am finding it still continues. The worst part is that I haven't done the kids legal name change yet (just giving them middle names of my choosing) & I still have not applied for their Canadian Citizenship. I am so sick of paperwork. What a Catch 22 - I need my tax refund to do the name change & apply for citizenship but I can't get my tax refund without providing all this documentation that the government has already scruntized & approved from the very beginning. Then next year I will have to prove that these are the same kids no doubt after I give them middle names.

I find it hard to believe that I need to ask the government permission to adopt before I can even do my homestudy. Once I am granted that request I have to provide them with personal details of my life & finances, proof of my mental stability, letters of reference from multiple people & various medical tests & they hold all the power to allow you to adopt or not. The official proposal of the children gets sent to the government first, they go through all the details & if they approve those children, my government proposes those children to me to accept or not. Then at the end of the adoption process I need to get their permission once again to bring the children into the country as permanent residents & they print up the cards to allow them to go home.

As we entered Canada we went through the all the hoops to verify all permissions were granted for them to gain entry in Canada. So in my option the government has been in well aware of & semi-active participants in our adoption from the very beginning.

When I registered for the Child Tax Benefit - they had no idea who these kids were & all documents had to be provided again.

Now again they are totally oblivious to who these children are & I need to provide all the same documents once again. Does the government not have a computer system that is networked so all this information can be shared between computers? How is that possible?

Not a happy camper. Did I mention before that I hate tax time?

Relaxing the Curls

2009-05-20T23:22:00.007-06:00

Christolla's hair before. Hard to see but it is very tight kinky curls.

Christolla's hair after relaxing it. Can you see how much looser the curls are?

A whole new look & it looks longer. I don't think she liked it to begin with - see her reflection in the photo above (I think she thought it would be straighter). I asked what she thought about her hair she said "it's a freakin' mess" & she isn't allowed to say that! LOL I can't imagine where she would have heard that before. :) Nelson said "you look like a princess to me Christolla". Aww

After blow drying & using the straightening iron. I just wanted to see if I could make it look straight, like the photos on the web site. She didn't look like the same kid when we were done.

I could have NEVER made her hair do this before. Takes too much time / work to make it feasible for a daily doo but it's ok for special look once in awhile.

Of course as soon as she slept on it her hair shrank & never looked this way again. :) A good one day - no afternoon nap style. If I am going to spend an hour or two doing hair I want it to last a week or two.

My two little ones have the tightest curls & it makes their hair difficult to work with. Trying to get a comb or even making a part through the curls takes a LOT of leave-in conditioner & determination. I am getting better with doing Christolla's hair but felt if I could relax the curls a bit I would have a much easier time managing it.

I searched the web & found this site http://www.freshlookhair.com/ for BodipHier Natural Hair Relaxing System. Following is the link to some the testimonials for this product http://www.freshlookhair.com/testimonials/. I decided to go for it. It arrived within five days, so I could hardly wait to try it. It was easy to put on (like coloring your hair) & didn't have a perm, chemical smell although I still found it mildly offensive and very importantly it didn't cause any skin irration or hair breakage (yet - six days post relaxer).

It did NOT straighten Christolla's hair at all but it relaxed her curls & her hair is so much softer & easier to manage. So instead of having a tight afro she has a softer, fluffier afro. :) Christolla likes her hair done in little braids & I will continue to do her hair like that but it is so much easier to wash, comb or braid now. Her hair feels soft & healthy. You do have to relax the new growth as the hair grows but the relaxer is supposed to be permanent. We will see...........

If we start noticing any hair loss or any adverse effects I will be sure to post it, but right now I am happy with the results & it did exactly what I was hoping / expecting it to do.

UN Names Bill Clinton Special Haiti Envoy

2009-05-20T22:45:00.003-06:00

I sincerely hope this will help the Haitian people & their country & not end up taking advantage of them. The Haitian people need jobs to rebuild their economy & support their families. I am shocked & dismayed that we have allowed this cycle of poverty to exist & basically ignored the cries of a starving nation that is unable to help themselves. Dare we hope that real help could be on its way?

*********************

May 19, 2009

UN Names Bill Clinton Special Haiti Envoy

http://www.canada.com/news/story.html?id=1610010

GENEVA — The head of the United Nations said Tuesday he had named former U.S. president Bill Clinton as his special envoy to Haiti, the Western Hemisphere's poorest country, which suffered four hurricanes and riots last year.

Clinton, who has galvanized efforts to help the impoverished Caribbean nation recover, accompanied Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Ban on a trip to Haiti in March.

"There will be no change in the United Nations' commitment to help Haiti through the United Nations stabilization forces in Haiti," Ban told a news conference. He said 9,000 UN troops were playing a crucial role in restoring stability.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said in a statement that Clinton would bring "unparalleled expertise and enthusiasm" to the role.
The United States is "firmly committed to a future of peace and prosperity for the people of Haiti," she said.

Rice said "much of Haiti's progress still remains fragile, especially after the terrible challenges of the past year from severe hurricanes to the global food crisis."

Diplomats have said Clinton's widely anticipated appointment could attract investment to Haiti and help stabilize the country where riots sparked by rocketing food prices caused the government's ouster last year.

The United Nations says low labour costs, proximity to the United States and Canada, and the duty-free access it will enjoy in the U.S. market for the next nine years could underpin Haiti's future economic growth.

This is getting expensive...............

2009-05-13T23:25:00.003-06:00

Chrissy showing off her toothless grin.

New teeth already coming in on the bottom.

This stage just makes me laugh. They are so cute.

Top of Christolla's head

Back view.

Ok who came up with this tooth fairy idea anyway? Teeth are coming out fast & furious in our household. Christolla lost her first tooth last week (bottom front), her second tooth yesterday (bottom front) & her third tooth today top front. Christolla is so excited about her lottery windfall & grins the biggest toothless grin. She was very brave & pulled the first two teeth out on her own but I had to assist, much to my dismay with pulling out # 3 tonight as it was dangling at odd angles & Christolla was unable to pull it on her own. UGGGG - I hate stuff like that! There are times when I wished I had a man around the house & this was definitely one of them.

More Mother's Day Photos

2009-05-13T23:10:00.004-06:00

Me, Taya & Dieunelson

Me & my girl

Resting with his dog after a long hard day & no nap.

Christolla & Brandon having a cuddle

Christolla took this photo of me & I thought it turned out pretty good.

Mother's Day

2009-05-13T22:44:00.004-06:00

Jen & her boys

Good looking bunch of kids

The money photo of the day & I completely missed taking it of my kids in front of Thomas.

All the staff were fantastic with the kids.

Nelson mesmerized by Thomas

A little late - but better late than never.

Mother's Day this year was fun as we went to "A Day Out With Thomas" so Nelson was in his glory. We got to go for a 20 minute train ride on Thomas which amounted to three trips around Heritage Park but the kids had a blast anyway.

We spent the day with Jennifer & her boys & enjoyed their company as we always do.

My oldest daughter Ashley was in Tofino on a school trip (sea kyaking) so she was sadly missed, but she did call. :) Brandon refused to go to Thomas with us but he did bbq a wonderful meal when we got home.

All in all we had a great day & I am a lucky woman to be Mom to this motley crew.

First Baby Tooth Came Out

2009-05-04T20:42:00.003-06:00

May 4, 2009

Christolla pulled her first tooth all by herself tonight! Poor girl has been struggling to eat lately as she has two wiggly teeth so she hasn't been able to bite stuff like normal. Tonight at the grocery store I noticed that her bottom tooth was very crooked so I took a look & could see the new tooth coming in behind the baby tooth. I gave her baby tooth a little wiggle & it was really loose. So when we got out to the van I gave her a kleenex & told her to grab it & pull it out. I expected her to play with it for awhile & pretty much instantly she told me that it was out. No fuss, no muss :) She looked a little concerned for a moment like she wanted to cry but we started congratulating her & told her how proud we were of her pulling it all by herself; so she didn't end up crying.

At bedtime we stuck her little tooth between a couple of lego pieces & stuck it under her pillow. She was a little nervous about the tooth fairy coming & wanted to know if she was nice & if she could fly. She is quite excited about the idea of getting money for her tooth. How much does the old tooth fairy pay these days? Oh I hope I don't forget to pay her a visit much later this evening.

I Did It - Taxes That Is

2009-04-28T11:30:00.003-06:00

Well I actually did my taxes last night. Not only that, but I did Brandon's & most of Ashley's too. Wow what a relief, & my worst fears have been eliminated as I am actually getting a refund. YIPPPEEE! Damn I wished I had filed earlier. :)

Ashley was missing one T4 & her tuition form so I still need to input those, but everything else is done & ready to go & I may get some of her leftover tuition write offs too so we will see. Now if she will just get me the forms I need today we will be good to go.

Maybe tonight I will be able to E-file both of our returns as well & I will be officially done with it for another year. Brandon's I submitted last night so his are officially done.

I still tend to worry until I receive the official tax assessment & know that it is over for another year. I always fear being audited too, I am not sure of the logical explaination as I am always honest on my returns but I guess it goes back to my fear / apprehension of the whole tax experience.

So I am done or a least a lot more done than on Sunday night. Soooo close. Aren't you proud of me Dad, I didn't want until the last night to do my taxes this year. :) Ok you can reserve the pat on the back until I actually click send & submit them. Soon, real soon. Without a doubt before Thursday.

I'm Back..............

2009-04-26T21:46:00.006-06:00

At the zoo last weekend.

She looks sweet & innocent - but don't be fooled!

One year home party & Nelson's cheesy grin.

One year home.

Wow having no computer at home since mid-December has freed up a *hit load of time. Quite honestly I haven't missed it much; since I am on a computer all day at work & it was a nice reprieve for the eyes not to sit in front of the computer every night once the kids were in bed. I did sadly miss some home comings of several children; who's parents journey I had followed for a couple of years. So if I haven't commented on your blog about it or congratulated you on your childs homecoming - let me say it now - Congratulations! Every childs home coming represents one less child in an orphanage, and we all know that is a good thing. I have lost all my favorite blogs & will need to try to find everyone all over again.

Life is crazy busy. At work we go full tilt every day & then I have a couple of hours with the kids in the evening & I am ready to crash out shortly after they go to bed. Our days just seem to blend together as the weeks & months roll by.

I am so sick of winter weather here I could scream. I blame being a miserable, nasty, short-tempered *itch on the length of our winters. We have had a couple of nice weekends in a row & the kids & I spent our days outside playing or at the zoo all day & my spirits were noticeably unlifted. It put a smile on my face, a bounce in my step & other spring urges for days afterwards. But then again today snow fell from the sky in a nasty spring storm causing my mood to turn more sombre.

I hate shopping & have never taken the kids to the mall; so today I needed to go buy some new under garments; possibly spurned by the above noted spring urges, & thought I would take advantage of the nasty weather & spend it inside getting my shopping done. Note to self: leave small children in someone elses capable hands at home when shopping. Dieunelson went crazy in LaSenza & oohed & awwed at all the different panties & bras. He would scream out "this is a pretty Mama or do you like polka dots"? Over & over no matter how much I asked him to quiet down. The change room was no better as I fielded comments from the peanut gallery as I tried on various ensembles. The kids had a good time - me not so much. :) They are definetely staying home when I go swim suit shopping.

Christolla has really changed since December. I was very concerned about her ability to learn - the last assessment she fell below normal on everything except for gross motor skills. She could not copy her name, write out or recognize any letters or even copy shapes that we drew. I thought she would probably always have difficulty learning. I am not sure what or how it happened but all of a sudden it seemed as if the connections in her brain were made; that makes her capable of learning. She can now write her name on her own, knows her alphabet & can draw anything asked of her. The changes are profound & now she is probably much closer to her peers in what she can do. I am very proud of her as it hasn't been easy for her to get to this point. Now that things are clicking for her she is eager to soak up more & I can see her confidence growing. We will take the training wheels off her bike this summer & see how she does with that. Christolla has two wiggly teeth - top front & bottom front (opposite each other) so she should be pumkin girl in no time. She turns six in July & she is turning into a big kid & leaving the small child phase in her wake. It makes me sad I missed so much of her childhood & wasn't there to influeance the forming of her personality or her brain development (maybe that is a good thing - depending on who you ask).

Dieunelson hasn't experienced the same difficulty learning but I believe it was because he came home younger & has had more stimulation. He is a typical little boy & loves talking non-stop about bums, penises, vaginas, boobs, poop, farts and burps; all of which he finds incredibly funny & manages to insert in just about every sentence. So for his age I think he is right where he should be - it's weird they never really progess past this stage. He has not lost his fascination with bums & can be caught checking out womens bootys all the time. We walked past a very large women at the grocery store one day & he looked at me with his mouth hanging open & his eyes wide with awe & said "Mama, did you see her bum?", he was soooo impressed - big or small he loves them all. He can ride the big trike this year by peddling with one foot as both feet can't reach the peddles at the same time but he can really go quick even with one foot.

I managed to procastinate doing my taxes for yet another weekend - even though it was yucky outside & a perfect time to get them done. Well I still have four days so I guess there is no panic yet. YIKES, I say this every year - but I HATE tax time. I also always say I won't leave filing my taxes till last minute - last year it was the night before the due date, but it seems I won't be doing any better this year. I can say I didn't have a computer to do my taxes on until now - but this weekend kinda blows that excuse too. Did I mention how much I hate tax time & deadlines - next year I will file earlier, for sure. I could be / should be doing them at this moment in fact, but instead I put it off, as updating the blog took priority. What can I say?

And now it is bedtime............... Good night.

One Year Home

2009-03-07T15:00:00.006-07:00

March 5, 2009 - Kids have grown so tall, check out how small they were one year ago

March 5, 2008 - At the airport arriving home

February 29, 2008 - The kids look like little guys.

Time flies, I can not believe the kids have been home for a year already. Why didn't the wait for them to come home from Haiti pass so quickly.

There have been so many changes in them in the last year it is unbelievable. They are growing like bad weeds & their English is perfect. Kids amaze me how quickly they can learn a new language & adapt to a whole new lifestyle.

I am going to post this as I am still having computer & internet issues so I don't want to lose this. I will try to add more photos if the computer allows it.

Computer Issues

2008-12-12T14:08:00.002-07:00

Sorry for the lack of blogging - it isn't that I have nothing to say, I am having major computer issues at home. One is down for the count & it holds all my favorite blogs so I am unable to follow along.

We have all been sick for what feels like forever now. One cold / flu bug circulating constantly. It has been a real drag.

We are not even close to being ready for Christmas. I haven't bought one present yet, & don't intend to even start until about December 19 when I am off work. That will leave plenty of time :) I don't buy a lot for Christmas anyway so we should be able to complete it easily.

My Sis is flying in on Dec 18 & staying two weeks with us. We are all so excited!! She has not met the little kids yet so it will be lots of fun.

Christolla & Nelson are so excited about Christmas. We set up our tree last weekend but I felt too ill to decorate so it is sitting there bare with only the lights on it. Kids are thrilled - but they don't know that there is more to come at some point. Santa came to visit their pre-school this week so they were both vibrating about that.

The last two days it has been on the plus side of the thermometer (just maybe +3 or so) but we are about to be plunged into the deep freeze. BRRRRRRRRR Listen to this:

Currently today it is -3 celcius but by rush hour tonight Environment Canada has issued a Winter Weather Warning & the temp will drop to -23 & expect 10 – 15 cm of snow with wind 40 – 60 km per hour - bbbbbrrrrrrrr

Saturday – 23 c w/ wind chill expect -35 thru -40
Sunday -27 c
Monday -24 c
Tuesday – 7 c

Sounds freaking bone chilling!!!! Winds will be super strong & make this one nasty storm, for the whole weekend of course. The little kids have never experienced this kind of cold before. Oh well we will just cozy up at home & wait this one out.

Stay warm everyone.

Hugs, Laur

On A Lighter Note

2008-11-24T20:09:00.005-07:00

My butterfly & reindeer - they loved getting their faces painted.

I took lots of photos as a comprise to get them to wash their face to go to bed. :)

I thought at first he was an alien, but I should have known by the red nose who he was.

Kids with their friend Noah.

Dieunelson admiring Christolla's art.

Saturday was the Christmas Party for the IAFA - International Adoptive Families Association that we attended. The kids had lots of fun & it was nice to meet some of the other families of children adopted from all over.

I stayed home from work today sick - this is week number two of this illness. Last week all four kids were sick for four days & I managed to avoid getting ill. Friday I started to get a little sick which escalated all weekend. Everyone else is feeling better but still not 100%. Hopefully by the end of this week everyone will be back to normal.

It's 8:30 & the little kids are in bed & I am heading there too. Night.

UN Haiti appeal: British agencies call for more support for Haitian farmers

2008-11-24T13:16:00.003-07:00

Saturday, November 22, 2008

UN Haiti appeal: British agencies call for more support for Haitian farmers -British Haiti Advocacy Platform

For immediate release. 21 November 2008

A platform of British development agencies and solidarity organizations has today written to the United Nations to express its concern about the poor international response to the joint UN/Government of Haiti Flash Appeal to help Haiti recover from the devastating series of hurricanes that hit the country in August and September.

In a letter to John Holmes, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, the British Haiti Advocacy Platform notes that, as of 21 November 2008, only 33% of the total appeal amount of US$108m had been raised. (The Flash Appeal was launched on 9 September.)

More worrying still for the Platform is the very poor response to the part of the Flash Appeal concerning the rehabilitation of Haiti's vital agricultural sector. Around two-thirds of the Haitian population derives its livelihood from agriculture.

As part of the total requested by the UN and Haiti's government, an allocation of US $10.5m was requested by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization to:
- help rebuild the livelihoods of the farmers most affected by natural disasters,
- rehabilitate the irrigation network in the main areas affected by flooding, and
- help prevent the spread of disease among surviving livestock.

In the letter to the UN's John Holmes, the Platform deplores the fact that, so far, only US$828,000 - just 8% of the amount originally requested for agriculture - has been provided.

The letter states: "If Haiti is to avoid the prospect of wide spread famine in the near future, there needs to be a major effort to support Haitian farmers so that they can grow the crops and rear the animals to provide food for the population."

It continues: "The fact that the response to the agriculture section of the Flash Appeal has been so disappointing suggests that once again that the international aid machine remains wedded to the short-term and has scant regard for lasting solutions to Haiti's problems.

"The Platform appealed to John Holmes to raise the issue of international donor support for Haitian farmers as a matter of the highest priority.

Anne McConnell, co-ordinator of the British Haiti Advocacy Platform, said,"While it is great that the Flash Appeal recognized the importance of repairing the damage to the agricultural sector, these good intentions are rendered meaningless if the rich donor nations decline to support this part of the Appeal."

The Haiti Support Group solidarity organization is a member of the Platform, and its director, Charles Arthur, added, "Six or nine months from now, when the images of starving Haitian children are broadcast on North American and European television, people will ask how the situation in Haiti was allowed toget so bad. If Haitian farmers don't get help, we are looking at the strong possibility of a terrible famine."

Background

Decades of under-investment and the reduction of import tariffs have left Haiti's agricultural sector in a dire state. As a result, Haiti has moved from a situation where local farmers could provide most of the country's food requirements to the the current position of reliance of food imports. Recent increases in international food prices have pushed the cost of many everyday food staples out of the reach of country's poor.

This precarious situation has been compounded by the damage caused by the recent series of hurricanes and floods which destroyed crops, washed away fields and livestock, and obliterated the rudimentary irrigation network.

Haiti's peasant farmers - tens of thousands of them united in regional and national peasant organizations - are now trying to rebuild and rehabilitate the agricultural sector.

People Who Do Make a Difference

2008-11-22T23:29:00.004-07:00

This is a note from the creche (COTP - Children of the Promise) Christolla & Dieunelson lived for several years:

We are seeing worse and worse situations. We had a little boy abandoned at the local hospital severely malnourished. Last week they thought he would die, this week he has more hope. When he gets better he will come to live with us. We, Americans, are starting to get hit with "hard times" and this in turn is effecting the children and people all around the world, but in particular, Haiti. Our wallets are getting tighter and its getting harder to give, but this is a time we need to give more. I won't hide that we are out of funds to feed these children. We want to continue giving them the quality of care we have been and what we desire for these children. No orphanage is the best option for a child to grow up in, but we sure want to make it the best place for them to be in transition to their family, whether that is back to their biological families or adoptive. Please pray for the children of Haiti and please consider helping in any way you can.

http://www.childrenofthepromise.org/

These two ladies are amazing - one sister runs the rescue centre & the other is an RN - they do amazing things for the people; as well as work community projects rebuilding roads & planting trees to help the flooding & soil erosion problems. Go back & read their old posts they are making a difference in the lives of so many.

http://haitirescuecenter.wordpress.com/

http://www.xanga.com/haitinurse4life

Heartline Ministries run several projects to help the people of Haiti.

One is their Womens Program, there they teach the women:

1. Prenatal Class
2. Early Childhood Development Class
3. Literacy Class
4. Sewing Class (help women create & then sell items to support their families)

They also run an orphanage

& recently started a Talapia Project a fish farming endeavor to feed the children in the orphanage & the women program.

The fellow also has a blog & is pretty humorous. You can find his blog on one of the tabs on their home site below.

http://heartlineministries.org/default.aspx

There are many many NGO's working in Haiti trying to make a difference. These are just ordinary folks who couldn't turn their back to people in need & have been working tirelessly to help one person at a time. Not everyone could live in a third world country for years on end in difficult, dangerous regions but these folks have all been in Haiti saving lives for years. I just believe that for those of us that can't; we should at least financially support those that can & are.

Gloomy posts but this is reality & if everyone gave just a little it would make a huge difference & save many lives.

I have several more links of other reputable organizations that I will post another time.

Another news article:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081121/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cb_haiti_food_crisis

Hunger Plagues Haiti After Storm Wipes Out Crops, Livestock

2008-11-22T23:10:00.004-07:00

This is reality, it makes people uncomfortable to talk about & to see the photos (see the link) but we have to pull our heads out of butts & do something - many people are dying everyday. Most of the deaths are between 2 - 5 years, that is the age of my little ones. There are so many great organizations that help the people of Haiti please support them in anyway that you can. I'll post some links of organizations / missionaries that I follow that do great things & rely on donations to perform their work. It may only be a drop in the bucket in the big scheme of things & will never eradicate the poverty & hardship Haiti is facing but they save many. Post to follow soon.

Thursday , November 20, 2008

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,455584,00.html

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — The 5-year-old teetered on broomstick legs — he weighed less than 20 pounds, even after days of drinking enriched milk. Nearby, a 4-year-old girl hung from a strap attached to a scale, her wide eyes lifeless, her emaciated arms dangling weakly.

In pockets of Haiti accessible only by donkey or foot, children are dying of malnutrition — their already meager food supply cut by a series of devastating storms that destroyed crops, wiped out livestock and sent food prices spiraling.

http://www.foxnews.com/photoessay/0,4644,5741,00.html (Warning: Graphic Material)

At least 26 severely malnourished children have died in the past four weeks in the remote region of Baie d'Orange in Haiti's southeast, aid workers said Thursday, and there are fears the toll will rise much higher if help does not come quickly to the impoverished Caribbean nation.

Another 65 severely malnourished children are being treated in makeshift tent clinics in the mountainous area, or at hospitals where they were evacuated in Port-au-Prince and elsewhere, said Max Cosci, who heads the Belgian contingent of Doctors Without Borders in Haiti.

One evacuee, a 7-year-old girl, died while being treated, Cosci said, adding: "The situation is extremely, extremely fragile and dangerous."

At a makeshift malnutrition ward at a Doctors Without Borders hospital in the capital, 10 emaciated children were under emergency care Thursday, their stomachs swollen and hair faded by pigmentation loss caused by malnutrition. Several had the puffy faces typical of kwashiorkor, a protein-deficiency disorder.

Five-year-old Mackenson Duclair, his ribs protruding and his legs little more than skin stretched over bones, weighed in at 19.8 pounds, even after days of drinking milk enriched with potassium and salt. Doctors said he needed to gain another five pounds before he could go home.

Dangling from a scale mounted from the ceiling, 4-year-old Venecia Lonis looked as limp as a rag doll as doctors weighed her, her huge brown eyes expressionless, her hair tied with bright yellow bows.

Mackenson's grandmother, who has raised him since his mother died, said she barely has a can of corn grits to feed herself, the boy and her 8-year-old granddaughter each day.

"These things did not happen when I was growing up," 72-year-old Ticouloute Fortune said.

Rural families already struggling with soaring food prices in Haiti, the Western Hemisphere's poorest country, lost their safety nets when fields were destroyed and livestock wiped out by the storms, which killed nearly 800 people and caused $1 billion worth of damage in August and September.

U.N. World Food Program country director Myrta Kaulard said she fears more deaths from malnutrition in other isolated parts of Haiti, and search and medical teams were fanning out in the northwest and along the southwestern peninsula to check.

The World Food Program has sent more than 30 tons of food aid — enough to feed 5,800 people for two weeks — into the remote southeastern region since September, and other groups funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development have sent food as well, she said.

But the steep, narrow paths and poor visibility make it difficult to deliver the food to the mountain communities where hunger is worsening. In one case, a WFP truck flipped over while struggling up a hill and slid into a ravine, killing an aid worker.

"There is always a bottleneck. The same situation that the people are facing is the same situation we're also facing," Kaulard told The Associated Press Thursday.

The mountain villages have long suffered from chronic hunger, growing only enough staples to feed themselves less than seven months out of the year, she said.

But families normally have enough to last through December. This year, Haiti's agriculture ministry estimates 60 percent of the harvest was lost in the storms nationwide. Land quality is already poor and farmers lost seeds for next year when the storms hit, Kaulard said.

Effects of the storms vary widely from village to village and even family to family. In some places, food supplies seem intact. In others, Doctors Without Borders has found rates of severe malnutrition as high as 5 percent.

Aid shortages may soon compound the problem. Donor countries have funded only a third of the U.N.'s $105 million aid appeal for Haiti following the storms, and resources could run out in January, Kaulard said.

At the hospital Thursday, Enock Augustin sat beside the bed where his 5-year-old daughter Bertha was sleeping. The fragile-looking child was evacuated by helicopter Nov. 8 with vomiting and diarrhea. When she arrived, nearly a quarter of her body weight was due to fluid retention, a sign of severe protein deficiency.

The swelling gradually receded as she was fed nutrient-enriched milk and treated with antibiotics and anti-worm medicine; she shrank to just 21 pounds.

She has since gained about two pounds but can't go home until she reaches 26 pounds, doctors said.

For months, the Augustin family had gotten by despite the soaring prices of corn grits and imported rice because they grew potatoes, which they could eat or barter for plantains, yams and breadfruit that did not fluctuate with the world market.

But then, in August, Tropical Storm Fay hit, followed by Hurricane Gustav, Tropical Storm Hanna and Hurricane Ike.

"Every time a hurricane came through, it killed our animals and plants," said Augustin, a father of six. The road was washed out, markets became unreachable and "the price of everything went sky high."

The entire family subsisted on two cups of corn grits, and Bertha began shrinking — and then swelling — before his eyes.

"She was really bad. We put her in the helicopter and they brought her here," Augustin said. "I hope the government will hear about us and bring more support."

ENVIRONMENT: Haiti Can't Face More Defeats

2008-11-17T20:13:00.003-07:00

Haiti has been hit hard with the storms this year & has made life for the poor of Haiti even more difficult since it ruined their crops. My heart goes out to the people of Haiti. Laur

ENVIRONMENT: Haiti Can't Face More Defeats By Stephen Leahy*

Haitian hills damaged by erosion. Credit:Courtesy of Floresta-Brad Lewis

UXBRIDGE, Canada, Nov 13 (Tierramérica) - The worst natural disaster that Haiti has suffered requires far-reaching solutions in order to reduce this Caribbean country's environmental fragility, say officials and humanitarian workers.

Four major storms pounded Haiti in August and September, leaving nearly 1,000 dead and a million people homeless. International relief efforts are keeping people alive and sheltered, but the already degraded landscape has been badly battered, washing away crops, soil and the few remaining trees in many areas.

"I'm not sure if things could get worse here. Haiti must be the most desperate environmental crisis on the planet," Joel Boutroue, resident humanitarian coordinator and head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Port-au-Prince, told Tierramérica.

Boutroue was referring to the future of the poorest country in the Americas, where U.N. peace-keepers have been stationed since 2004. But he added that "the international response to the disaster is quite good."

While pockets of severe malnutrition still exist, there is access to clean water and only about 3,000 families were without shelter as of the end of October, he said.

However, it is not possible to feed an entire country of 9.5 million people with international aid for long. Haiti cannot feed itself, and even growing 50 percent of its own food is years away, Boutroue fears.

In cutting down 98 percent of its forests for fuel, Haiti has lost much of its topsoil to erosion. Ordinary storms often result in devastating floods because there is little to hold the water back.

Ninety percent of Haiti’s children suffer from waterborne diseases and intestinal parasites, mainly because there is no forest or vegetation-covered areas to serve as natural filters for the water.

Haiti has been in a state of environmental crisis for many years, according to numerous experts, but efforts to improve the situation have been slow in coming. The key components to improving the country's barren and infertile landscapes are reforestation, terracing, and channelling water flows.

Collectively known as watershed restoration, it is a top priority, but little work has been done on the ground. It has taken three years of preparation to get one restoration project started, laments Boutroue.

About two percent of the watershed around the northern city of Gonaïves had been restored at a cost of two to three million dollars, he said. Unfortunately that region was hardest hit by this year's storms and much of the work was destroyed.

Other regions suffered the same fate.

"Four storms in a row would devastate any region, even in the United States," said Brad Lewis, a development officer at Floresta, a U.S.-based Christian aid group working in Haiti for more than a decade. "

Imagine if New Orleans had been hit by three more storms in the weeks after Hurricane Katrina swamped the city" in 2005, Lewis told Tierramérica.

Floresta has worked with local Haitian communities to plant 124,000 trees and construct almost 300 kilometres of soil conservation barriers. But much of that effort was destroyed when tropical storm Fay was followed by hurricanes Gustav, Hanna and Ike. "

The reforestation and barriers held up after the first storm, proving that they work in reducing soil erosion and preventing flooding," Lewis pointed out.

His hopes are centred on the fact that some of their efforts worked, including a novel concept of "living terraces" where pineapple trees or sugar cane replace rock walls as barriers to contain the soil and water. "They're just as effective a barrier and they yield a crop," he said.

Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere, remains trapped in a cycle of poverty in which farmers are struggling and often can only grow enough food to feed their families, using practices that sacrifice the long-term health of their land.

This also makes it difficult for farmers to adopt new practices, particularly in a country where well-meaning relief agencies provide help and support for new ideas, and then leave after six months or two years when their funding runs out, Lewis said.

Breaking these cycles and developing the capacity to feed its own people while building resilience to the future impacts of climate change are enormous challenges, acknowledges Boutroue.

Last month, World Bank president Robert B. Zoellick toured the country and announced 25 million dollars in additional emergency grants to rebuild major bridges and expand existing programmes to help reduce the country’s vulnerability to natural disasters. That was in addition to the bank's 240 million dollars in interest-free loans and grants through the International Development Agency (IDA) since 2005. "

That level of support is just enough to keep the country's nose above water," said Boutroue.

The U.N., World Bank and others are developing a "Haitian Recovery Framework" -- a three-year, multi-billion dollar plan to be released before the end of the year. The plan is intended to "jump-start the country, put it back on its feet," by putting unprecedented effort and money into watershed restoration, basic services and food security, Boutroue said. "

We know how to restore watersheds. We know they can work and we have the people and capacity to do the work. All we need is more cash," said the U.N. official.

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44683

(*This story was originally published by Latin American newspapers that are part of the Tierramérica network. Tierramérica is a specialised news service produced by IPS with the backing of the United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Environment Programme and the World Bank.) (END/2008)

Christolla at the Climbing Wall

2008-11-08T23:35:00.002-07:00

Getting started.......

Christolla getting higher, Nelson bouldering along the bottom.

Big step over.

Almost at the top.

First time Christolla has ever made it to the top of the climbing wall. YEAH!!

Eight Months Home

2008-11-05T23:04:00.006-07:00

Kiddo's, November 2 down by the river

Unbelievable, the kids have been in our life & home for 8 months already. We arrived in Canada on March 5, 2008 but it feels like a life time ago. It is hard to remember life before they joined our family.

Things I have learned the last 8 months:

1. It wasn't easy to parent my newest children.

2. Children who have never had material possessions don't take care of things they are given.

3. Children don't naturally/ instictively know how to play & pretend.

4. Kids thrive on a strict routine, I don't.

5. My theory that I would be way more tolerant & patient parent this time around was a misconception.

6. Orphanage behaviors - screaming, tantrums, spitting, sassiness are not condusive to a harmonious family life.

7. Orphanages are a poor replacement for family, but sadly perhaps better than they had.

8. I have questioned my sanity / decision to raise a second family on more than one occasion.

9. Little kids have a lot of energy & make a ton of noise.

10. I didn't know that a child had to be taught how to live, love & function in a family.

11. At the six month mark, life began to settle into a new normal.

12. By the 7 month mark; they were a joy & my time off from work was up so I didn't get to enjoy the easy times with them as much as I would have liked.

13. Kids can learn a new language extremely fast!

14. Kids grow at an amazing rate.

15. Hearts are knit together with shared experiences, laughter, tears & time.

16. I look forward to coming home at the end of the day & having the kids clamour for my attention, both telling me all their news within the first minute of being home.

17. Adopting Christolla & Dieunelson was the right thing to do for all of us :)

18. Seeing Ashley & Brandon loving & spoiling their little siblings warms my heart.

19. Observing Christolla & Dieunelson looking up to & idolizing their big brother & sister makes me remember why I am so proud of them too.

20. Experiencing all the firsts with the kids makes every new opportunity & holiday something to look forward to.

21. My love for my children grows stronger every day.

22. This is the hardest & most rewarding thing I have ever done.

23. This is NOT the easy way to have children - far from it.

24. Children cannot be counted on as your weight loss program.

25. My children wanted a family to love them, but at the same time tried to push me / us away.

26. Little kids can eat as much as an adult.

27. Too much stuff overwhelms children that have not had toys, presents or clothes.

28. Little kids wake up way to early in the mornings.

29. I am so lucky - my kids love to eat everything. Not having picky eaters is a added bonus.

30. My kids love to go to bed at nap & bed times. Just tuck them in & they go right to sleep.

31. We have been fortunate & never encountered anyone that has been rude, bigoted or intolerant in any way.

32. My heart will break when we do encounter discrimination. How do you explain that to children?

33. The sound of children's laughter can bring a smile to the face of the grumpiest Mommy.

34. I am so thankful for children who poop in the potty.

35. I am thankful that I don't have to miss another occasion waiting for the kids to come home.

36. I love that the computer doesn't consume all my evenings anymore as I checked email, blogs, adoption groups sometimes compulsively to keep updated in the adoption process & long for photos or updates.

37. I have no desire to adopt any more children, my family is complete (unless anyone knows a single eligible employed man who isn't scared away by a woman with four dependants). Oh no - now I will be checking my email compulsively waiting for all of your responses. ;)

It is way past my bedtime on a work night so just know these two little Haitians who have found their way into my heart & home have made me a better person. I am honored to be their Mom. They are not lucky children to have been adopted & given access to food, medical care & the opportunity for a education. They are two children who have experienced loss, rejection, poverty, lack of food & family, inferior medical care, who have finally been given a small break. No child anywhere should ever experience these things & all should have their basic needs met. It's so sad little ones have to deal with such complex issues that could bring an adult to their knees begging for mercy.

Yeah the People Have Spoken

2008-11-05T22:05:00.003-07:00

Rosa sat so Martin could walk,
Martin walked so Barack could run,
Barack ran so our children can fly.

As a mother to visible minority children I couldn't be happier about the results of the US Election. Imagine the possibilities for ALL children now who grow up in a era where the color of your skin doesn't dictate how far you can be promoted within a company or who you could love or marry. That a person of any color can hold the highest office in the country.

As a Canadian I didn't have any right to vote but I am thrilled that Bush is OUT of office & someone as smart & articulate as Obama has been voted in. Personally I wouldn't want his new job. He has one hell of a mess to clean up after the years of Bush's administration. Time will tell if Obama is the change so desperately wanted & needed but I can say with complete confidence that he can't possibly do any worse than his predecessor.

I couldn' t be happier that Obama won by a large margin too; he didn't just squeak in. Now people can't imply that it was a miscount of ballots or some other contrived manipulation that has ushered other presidents into office. There are still many racial divisions in the US, much more so than in Canada (although they do exist here as well) so for the people to elect Obama as president makes me proud. This could be the shift to a whole new level of acceptance for all people, how exciting we are here to witness this change. One small stone thrown into a pond causes a ripple, this ripple may cause a tsunami. May all our children regardless of their skin pigment benefit from this effect. Change happens slowly, but change is indeed happening. One baby step closer to being the civilized society that we pretend to be.

Everyone Helped Out

2008-11-01T22:14:00.001-06:00

The finished products

2008-11-01T22:02:00.005-06:00

Halloween Night

Kids so excited waiting for it to get dark so they could go out.

They were still a little confused about was going to happen.

My finished product. A basic jack-o-latern.

Ashley's version, a little more finesse was required. This looked great lit up.

The Big Night

2008-11-01T17:06:00.002-06:00

Dieunelson our friendly lion, he didn't want a scary costume. :)

Christolla as a dragon for her first halloween ever.

Ashley took the kids out trick or treating around the neighborhood.

They were so excited they couldn't wait to go.

Where does the time go?

2008-10-30T21:14:00.003-06:00

Wow, I can't believe it has been over a month since I last updated. Time seems to be slipping away. Life is busy, noisy, exhausting at times & so much fun!

I have started back to work full-time again so that takes up a huge part of my day. I am completing week # 3 of working again. I can't believe that I was off work for 7 1/2 months & now I have been back to work for three weeks. UNBELIEVABLE!! I am really happy to be back to work, I guess I am not a real good stay at home Mom. I really miss adult interaction & the opportunity to use my brain. I am very fortunate that I have a job & co-workers that I really like. Brandon, my oldest son is my live-in nanny so I can leave the kids & not worry about them. Their routine has not been disrupted at all & since I am a miserable cranky morning person they don't have to put up with me. I can get up earlier than usual, get myself ready & out the door & start work at 7:30 am, so I can leave work earlier & have some time in the evenings with the kids. So far it is working out wonderfully, so I hope that continues. I normally do not travel with work but we are starting a new training program so another girl & I went to Houston for two days to prepare & meet contacts. We worked long hours, but we accomplished what we wanted. Sure wish I had more time to see Houston while I was there since I will probably never get there again, but I couldn't leave the kids any longer & we are busy at work. Everyone we dealt with in Houston was so accomodating & friendly - I was very impressed. Little & big kids did great in my absence.

Christolla & Nelson are LOVING pre-school & bring home copious quanities of art work which we proudly hang all over the place. The big buzz here is their first Halloween. I do not let the kids eat candy normally so they just find it hard to believe that they will be going door to door tomorrow night & getting candy from the neighbors. Today was Nelson pre-school Halloween party & tomorrow is Christolla's so excitement is in the air. Kids are thrilled with their costumes C is a dragon & D is a lion - they didn't want anything too scarey. Last night we carved two pumpkins so we are ready for the big day. The little kids helped dig the seeds out of the pumpkins & were amazed when we finished & lit a candle inside. I can't wait to see their excitement tomorrow when kids start showing up at the door, the pumpkins are lit & outside & they get to head out to a few houses & collect a wee bit of candy. We will commerate their first Halloween with lots of photos.

It's getting late, "Grey's Anatomy" will be on soon (my favorite tv show), so I must go heat up my magic bags, cuddle up in bed & watch tv for the next hour or until I fall asleep. That is the hardest part of having to go back to work - making myself go to bed before midnight. I am not a morning person but I love my quiet evenings. Working a 3pm - 11pm shift would work beautifully if I didn't have a family.

Uggg - a friend called & I missed Grey's. I'll have to buy the dvd now for sure.

Have a happy & safe Halloween everyone!

Hugs, Laur

September 22, 2008

2008-09-22T18:45:00.001-06:00

Pet Photos from Today

2008-09-22T18:38:00.002-06:00

Mango
Sunshine & Brandon
Taya swimming in the river
Zora swimming in the river
Zora sitting in the water

September 22, 2008

2008-09-22T18:17:00.000-06:00

September 22, 2008

2008-09-22T18:02:00.003-06:00

Christolla's 1st Day of Preschool 2008 - 5 years old

2008-09-22T16:00:00.002-06:00

Dieunelson's First Day of Play School 2008 - 3 years old

2008-09-22T15:53:00.002-06:00

Just cause they made me smile

2008-09-03T00:00:00.001-06:00

Did you hear they put a McDonald's in Africa?

Photos from today

2008-09-02T23:53:00.000-06:00

Visiting Grandma & Grandpa

2008-08-31T13:48:00.003-06:00

Enjoying a train ride around Grandma & Grandpa's back yard

Please keep my Mom in your thoughts & prayers as she does her chemo treatments for bone cancer. I spoke to her last night & her voice sounded so meek & tired. Currently she is doing chemo every four days & she is really feeling nauseous & run down right now. So far she has had four or five treatments & they have not indicated when it will end. She has had several vertebrae collapse as the cancer eats the bone so now she is struggling with even more pain & having to use a cane to assist her as the last one to disintegrate also pinched a nerve.

D has recovered beautifully from his umbilical hernia surgery. He was really sore the day of the surgery & the whole next day but since then you would never know he even had surgery. I am supposed to keep him from doing stairs, crawling on or over furniture & riding a bike. So far I have failed to do any of those things. Obviously it isn't hurting him or he wouldn't be doing them. He is a very active guy so it is next to impossible to keep him down for long. I will post his before & after shots of his belly button once it has healed & no longer has bandages on it. We have just removed the outside bandage & he no longer has a big outie so I too am anxious to see what it looks like when it is healed & all the steri strips are peeled off.

It is a lazy rainy day here today & fall is definitely in the air. I am still working on putting my house back together after having it being torn apart because of the grain beetle infestation. Three levels are now done but I have not even touched the fourth level yet. I can hardly wait to pull everything out again in a month & do this all again - NOT! Actually that won't be as bad since I can just take out items in one cupboard at a time rather than empty the contents of the whole house at once. I have not seen any live creepy crawlies for a couple of days now although new dead bugs keep showing up so obviously they are still hatching & crawling out of hiding. YUCKY!!!

Kids are napping right now so I better take this opportunity to go get showered up & make myself presentable.

Hugs, Laurie

Photos at Grandma & Grandpa

2008-08-31T13:39:00.002-06:00

Grandma - August 2008
Grandpa, Grandma & the kids August 2008
Silly girlie
D is so hard to get a photo of - he hams it up everytime he sees a camera
Grandpa with Taya & Zora

Bugs, Surgery & Pre-School

2008-08-27T23:23:00.005-06:00

Things have been busy!

I am living a freaking nightmare right now. I discovered last week that I have a grain beetle infestation in my house. They are teeny tiny little black beetle bugs that can get into even sealed packages. I spent two days taking everything out of all the cupboards, washing & bleaching them, throwing out all the dry foods & putting all the dishes back. We bleached all the baseboards on the main floor & have been cleaning like crazy. But our efforts were a waste of time & on Friday we had the exterminators come in & fumigate the whole house. We had to empty every cupboard in the house again & move all the furniture into the middle of the rooms so they could spray all the baseboards. We threw out about 8 garbage bags full of food – all dry stuff like crackers, soups, spices, flour, sugar etc. It is a huge drag & a costly infestation. Even all my linens & towels had bugs in them so now I am washing load after load of laundry. So now it is like we are just moving in again as we have to put everything away again. We have to leave the poison on for one month so all the cupboards are lined with freezer paper to put the dishes on & in a month we can do this all again – take everything out, wash the stuff, wash the poison out of the cupboards & put it all away again. UGGGGG

Went & visited my Mom & Dad last week & spent a couple of days there hanging out with them. Mom is having chemo treatments every four days so she was a little tired & sick feeling but looked pretty good overall. We kept our visit short & sweet as I didn't want to tire out Mom & Dad.

Attended our adoption agencies picnic on Sunday & the kids had lots of fun playing with other little ones & I got a chance to meet a few other adoptive families. They organized games for the kids & had lots of little prizes for them so it was a good time. All the families also brought food so we had a way more food than we could eat. It was a really nice afternoon even if I did end up getting a $36.00 parking ticket. It was so crowded there it was insane - so I I parked where I could, behind a long line of other cars so they made a killing on fines that afternoon alone.

D had his umbilical hernia surgery yesterday. Poor baby he was a hurting puppy. His surgery was scheduled for 11:30am but he finally went in at 12:30pm. My sweetie was miserable as he had not had any food since the previous nights supper at 7:00pm. He kept asking for eggies, pizza or chicken & french fries. He couldn't even have any water or apple juice after 7:30am so I got up & made sure he drank a bit before that time. He was very miserable last night & couldn't walk well himself & just screamed when I tried to move him. I was up every four hours with him last night to give pain meds & continued with that same schedule today as well. This morning he is moving on his own, even if it is at a much slower pace than normal. I am supposed to keep him off the stairs (hahahaha - he has already been up & down several times), no bike riding or swimming for two weeks. We took the outer bandage off tonight & he no longer has the big outie but he has surgerical strips still on for at least a week or two so we won't see the final results for a little while yet.

Tonight the kids had their pre-school orientation session. Just a little opportunity for them to go see their teachers & meet some of their classmates & to play a little while. C had not seen it before as I had her registered for Kindergarten until I went to enroll D in playschool & made a decision that would be a better placement for her as well. Gosh I felt old this evening though when most of the young moms didn't look much older than my oldest daughter. I even had one mom come up & ask me my name & wanted to know how long I had worked there. I said no I don't work here I am Mom to two little ones & she looked so surprised. :)

It is getting late so I need to sign off for now & prepare for another day. I have lots of photos so will try to post some of those tomorrow.

Hugs, Laur

Adoption Poems

2008-08-15T14:18:00.004-06:00

As I waited almost three years to bring my children home, I spent a lot of time stalking adoption blogs & dreaming of the day I would have my children home. Along the way I collected some poems others had posted that had special meaning to me. I thought I would start sharing some of them here for others to enjoy as you wait for your babies to come home.

Hugs, Laur

*****************************
We've added to our family tree
A stronger one to make
A child from another plant
Has become our new namesake

Just as a limb is grafted
From one tree to another
It alters and improves the plant
Making it uniquely like no other

Our family tree has been improved
Adoption made this so
For love much more than bloodlines
Makes us thrive and grow

We chose to share our life and love
And all the joys to come
Our family tree has blossomed
With the arrival of our cherished one (two)...

Author Unknown

****************************

As a girl I had a common dream, to be a mom someday.
My baby would have eyes of blue and hair the hue of hay.

But now my dreams have been transformed.
New visions fill my head.
Now the tresses that I long to stroke are raven black instead.
And in my dreams those eyes are not so big or blue or round.
Now in my dreams they're beautiful and colored cocoa brown.

And in my dreams my arms can stretch across enormous seas.
They reach half-way around the world and hold you close to me.
And in my dreams the moment that your birthmother says good-bye, I'll be right there to comfort you and hold you as you cry.

Our features may not look alike; we're different as can be.
But still I know the Father has created you for me.
And though I've not yet touched your face, or held your tiny hands, and though we're half a world apart in very different lands, I'll be right there to get you, just as soon as God allows.
But ’til He says the time is right I give to you this vow.
I'll pray for your protection every day on bended knee.
For God to hold you in His arms, until you're here with me.

Author Unknown

I'm a Weiner..........

2008-08-07T21:41:00.004-06:00

My new wheels.

My sis & her new wheels. I like hers better - maybe next lottery I could win one of those?

I mean winner. :) I have been buying the $100 lottery tickets for years & years & have never won anything. So I told the kids I had to keep buying them now; as it always says you have a 1 in 15 or 1 in 20 chance of winning. I have purchased way more than 15 - 20 of those tickets over the years so I said I was going to win soon.

Not long before we left for Haiti I won a Olympus digital camera in one of the lotteries. I was tickled pink as I did not have a working camera anymore & it was on my list of things to purchase before picking up the kids.

Then a couple of months ago in another lottery I won a Panasonic cordless phone with three handsets. I was happy about that one too as the basement had just been completed & I needed a phone for down there as well as some new ones upstairs. Yippee another bonus.

Then yesterday I got a letter in the mail from the Kinsmen Lotto informing me that I had won a Shimano Townie 21 speed touring bike & helmet. I went & picked it up today & it is awesome. It is very retro - in fact my sis had one just like this in the 70's (only it was a 1 speed & had pedal brakes). She used to get teased riding it as mustangs bikes with banana seats or 10 speeds were the rage at that time. See Cher you were just way ahead of your time. It reminds me of a Mr. Bean bike so you just have to smile when you look at it. I think I will have to buy a bell & basket for it & you can call me Ms. Bean. Then we can pop our puppies into the basket, hook the kid trailer up to the back & take the whole crew out riding.

So it seems the value of the last three prizes has gone up each time - so yippee maybe next time it will be a car, or a house, or money.................. ;) I would be good with any of those - a girl can dream.

So if you see me cruising down the road - honk & wave as you pass me.

Hugs, Laur

Fun at the Amusement Park

2008-08-07T21:24:00.003-06:00

Jen & N on our first ride of the day.
They're swingers............
Waiting for the train.
A small train
So much to see................

Yesterday I took the kids to an amusement park for the first time. I didn't know how to explain the concept of rides - so I just said you will see what we are doing when we get there. They have never done rides or anything before so this was a whole new adventure for them. They had a blast. We went with Jen & her little guy N, who is also adopted from Haiti, so the rides & the company were awesome. Thanks Jen.

The kids did really well & weren't scared on any of the rides. Now I just need them to get taller so we can do some of the fun rides. :)

Home 5 Months - August 5

2008-08-07T21:09:00.005-06:00

They are both getting so big, they are growing like bad weeds.
Kids with big sis

Wow it is hard to believe 5 months has flown by since the day we brought the kids home. I had forgotten how much work little kids were & had a bunch of jobs lined up that I would do while I was off work. Ha - that hasn't happened; we are too busy & once the kids are in bed I have no energy.

The last five months have probably been some of the most challenging days of my life, but also the most rewarding. It is unbelievable how much my little guys have learned in such a short time. My house is now messy, noisy & full of fun - I wouldn't want it any other way.

Long Boarding Kids

2008-08-04T23:08:00.002-06:00

Kids love long boarding with the big kids - A & Paul

I was just talking to Aunty Cher & she said the kids should have helmets on them when skate boarding. DOH I never even thought of that when I was out clicking photos. They do have helmets, so next time they will be wearing them.

Vacation 2008

2008-08-03T14:32:00.005-06:00

Bathing camping style.
Splish Splash C is taking her bath

My buddy Dave

I really love camping & even tenting like the kids & I did this time. We tented for two weeks & it was a good time (as long as you have good air mattresses, tarps & enough blankets to stay warm). Dave & Dylan slept in their big motor home & we just squatted at the back of their site.

Camping with two little ones is a ton of work though. Wish I would have had one or both of my big kids with me to help me out & relieve me of some of my parental duties, or just give me a break for a few minutes when I reached my breaking point. It was really dry & dusty there too so the kids always looked so dirty. After the first couple of days the kids slept better as any changes to their routine always take awhile for them to adjust too. The first couple of days the tent & air mattress were like their own private bouncy room so sleep time was not easy. They were outside all day swimming & playing in the heat, so they were exhausted at bed time once the thrill of the air mattress became old hat.

The lake is clean & had large turtles swimming around as well as lots of little fish that nibbled on your feet & toes, crayfish, garter snakes & large toads so the kids were thrilled with all of this new stuff to see. The only thing this lake is missing is a nice sandy beach.

We met up with a lot of folks that Dave met camping there last year as well as some old friends, so there was a very large group of us to hang around with. We had the one whole area of the campground with just our group & our collective 15 dogs. It was lots of fun & they were all such great people. Everyone took the kids under their wings & it felt like a very safe environment to expose them too for a first camping trip like this.

It is amazing how much D's language skills blossomed in these two weeks. Maybe because there were so many people paying attention to him? I don't know but he is now speaking quite clearly.

We had a great time & look forward to many more trips in the future.

2008-08-03T14:13:00.003-06:00

Me & my babies - D & Zora

C waking from her nap in our tent.
I slept for two weeks in a tent & shared my bed with D. Wow he is brutal to sleep with.
Dylan on his new bike

Forest Fire Scare

2008-08-03T13:36:00.006-06:00

I love camping in remote areas & I guess the danger in that is animals (bears & cougars) & forest fires. A couple of years ago when camping in this area we had a large cougar jump across the path not more than 10' in front of us as we were quading at night fall; that scared the crap out of me.

But this year it was a forest fire that left all of us shaken. It is hard to tell from the photos & I didn't get any as it was burning, but there were four trees up in flames & it burnt an area on the forest floor of about 20 paces square. We all laughed after as we said you never saw so many old people running around - there was fat & water flying every where! We have no idea how this fire started but luckily David spotted it as he was going up for a new drink - a few more minutes & we wouldn't have had a chance to get it out. The flames were already about 8' up the tree at that point. Everyone started hauling water & other campers from further down the camp grounds came & helped out. It was intense & we all thought we wouldn't be able to beat it & we would have to just escape with people & animals only. Dave had his chain saw ready to start cutting trees around the fire to keep it from jumping from tree top to tree top. Dave came & told me to get my van & kids ready to go as he thought we would have to jump in & run. Finally a couple of fire extinguishers knocked the flames down on the tree good & the kids & teenagers saved the day with their super soakers & put out the flames that were too high for us to reach. 911 had been called but we battled the fire for 20 - 30 minutes before it was out. Every one relaxed with a cold beverage at the lake & swapped lots of fire stories as we watched the lights of the fire truck going back on forth on the wrong side of the lake looking for us.

Hot spots started flaring again so once again everyone pitched in & there were quads traveling back & forth to the lake filling jugs. Again it was knocked down & shortly there after about 1 hour after our first 911 call, the fire crew showed up. They dug up the area & hosed it down good. I never thought to get photos of that but others did so I will post those when they are sent to me.

We were so lucky that there wasn't a breeze that day or the outcome may have been very different. It is really great to see how people will pitch in & work together when necessary. The fire was not that far from the entrance to the camp site so there would have been a lot of people potentially trapped.

More Photos

2008-08-03T13:26:00.002-06:00

First camping experience & they loved it.
C busy playing at the lake
My sweet boy
David taking D for a spin on the quad
C's turn on the quad with Dave

More Vacation Photos

2008-08-03T13:12:00.002-06:00

Beautiful Loon Lake, BC - I Love this area
Now if I could just convince someone to take me out on the canoe.
Kids loved playing at the lake
Nicky pulling the kids around
My friend Dylan with Taya & Zora

More Birthday Photos

2008-08-03T12:24:00.000-06:00

Happy 5th Birthday Sweetheart!

2008-08-03T01:31:00.005-06:00

My baby girl is now 5 years old (a few days ago) & I am lucky to have the opportunity to be her Mommy. May your strong will & moxy serve you well & give you the courage to resist peer pressure in your teenage years. Your laughter brightens our home & parenting you challenges me in so many ways. You truly have enriched my life & made me grow. I will be a better person from having met & loved you. Love you baby girl xoxoxox.

I'm Back................. :)

2008-08-03T00:31:00.004-06:00

I have been so deliquent with my blog even though I have had the best intentions to keep it updated. Well with my camera on the blink it just wasn't fun to post & not have any photos to go along with it. Camera is working again so I will post a bunch of photos to catch up.

Life with two little ones adjusting to a whole new life & family is exciting, exasperating, fun, frustrating & extremely BUSY! Wow they are a lot of work! Some days I really do second guess my decision to start over again, some days (ok most days) I feel sooo old. There are so many post institutional behaviors that are hard to deal with. LOUD yelling, screaming & crying may have worked in an orphanage when competing for attention, but in the home it grates on my nerves. I have found that keeping the schedule as rigid as possible gives us the best results as any change produces insecurity & acting out. The repetitive questions & sassiness is going to give me gray hair (oh wait - that has already happened). It is not all negative though - they are a lot of fun too & I am very proud of how much they have grown physically, emotionally & mentally in the short time they have been home. This is not an easy transition for older children who have to learn a new language & family appropriate behavior. These behaviors have obviously worked for them in the past so to learn new behaviors is going to take some time. I am encouraged by the support groups of other adoptive families I belong too as everyone is dealing with the same issues as I am - yeah I am not alone. Parenting older adopted children is nothing like parenting bio children. We are all learning as we go along - we have good days & some really crappy days but according to all the other parents going through this transition period, this is normal & this too shall pass.

Enough of my blabbing I need to start posting some photos.

Hugs, Laur

Heart Breaking Abuse - Child Slavery

2008-07-11T23:12:00.002-06:00

How to Buy a Child in 10 Hours

One Reporter's Journey Reveals An Epidemic of Child Slavery in Haiti
By DAN HARRIS
July 8, 2008—

This deeply unsettling experiment starts on a typical Monday morning on Manhattan's leafy Upper West Side, where commuters stroll by Starbucks and Central Park.
At 7:10 a.m., I'm off to see how long it takes to buy a child slave.
Click HERE to learn more about what you can do to help end child slavery.
It's 45 minutes to Kennedy Airport and an hour or so wait in the terminal, then a 3½-hour flight to Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
A band greets the flight.
By the time my team and I have collected our luggage, gone through immigration and customs, and are loaded into our vehicles, it's about 3:15 p.m.
As we leave the airport, two things become immediately apparent: Port-au-Prince is an amazing, vivid place, and it's also extremely poor. The U.S. State Department warns Americans against visiting here. United Nations peacekeepers patrol the roads while we drive with our own security team: two armed Haitian men in SUVs.
'I Would Like to Get a Child'
By 4:45 p.m., I'm poolside at one of the city's few upscale hotels. I'm wearing a hidden camera built into the strap of a bike messenger-style bag that's around my neck. There's another hidden camera in a leather satchel on the table, right next to the fruit plate and Evian water. My colleagues are manning cameras in hotel rooms overlooking the pool.
Our security guards are sitting discretely nearby.
That's when the man with whom I've arranged a meeting shows up.
He says he's a former member of parliament and that he has connections. In broad daylight, with hotel waiters walking by, he doesn't even flinch when I make a horrific request.
"If I would like to get a child to live with me and take care of me," I ask. "Could you do that?"
"Yes," he says. "I can."
He's speaking in Creole, the most prevalent Haitian language. The man doing the translation, who has set up the meeting, works for us (unbeknownst to the slave trafficker).
The trafficker assures me he's done this sort of transaction many times before.
"A girl or a boy?" he asks.
"A girl probably," I say.
"How old?"
"Maybe 10 or 11."
"Not a problem."
He says he can get me an 11-year-old girl, although he suggests that a 15-year-old might be better, because she'd be more "developed."
I'm thinking: I can't believe I'm having this conversation.
"And this is OK?" I ask. "I won't have any trouble from their parents or anything like that?"
"No, you won't have any problems with their parents."
"Why not?"
"When I give you the child, I will train it for you."
I'm not exactly sure what that means.
A Successful Negotiation
"I'm a little nervous." I say. "I just want to make sure that this is OK, that I'm not going to get in trouble, that this will be smooth, that you've done this before."
"I guarantee my service," says the trafficker, grinning. "I can get you your girl as early as tomorrow."
And now, the negotiation begins.
"So how much will it cost me to get a child?" I ask.
"The last one I gave was $300."
Trying to test the value of human life, I push a little.
"I have a friend who got one for $50."
"No," he says.
"What about $100?"
"$150," he offers.
I accept.
And there it is. It's about 5 p.m. Roughly 10 hours after leaving my office in New York City, I have successfully negotiated to buy another human being -- an 11-year-old girl, whose value is set at just $150.
As we conclude our meeting, I want to make sure the trafficker does not act on my request. I ask him to wait a day before doing anything. I assure him I'll call him tomorrow with my final answer. He agrees.
Offering Fake Papers and a 'Pretty' Child
And then, to show that this grotesque sort of deal-making is not a fluke, I have a second meeting, with another trafficker -- a beefy guy with the air of a street thug.
This second trafficker is asking a much steeper price for an 11-year-old girl: $10,000.
"It's something definitive," explains our translator. "After the sale, he doesn't mind what happens to the kid."
"So for $10,000, I can have the child and do anything I want to do is what he's saying?" I ask.
"Yeah, definitely."
As further enticement, the trafficker says he can even get me fake papers that would allow me to take this child back to the U.S. with me. Both traffickers say they have experience providing children to Americans. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, officials have no idea how often this sort of transaction transpires. As the slightly menacing slave trafficker describes this girl he's promising to provide, I hear him use the French word "belle." French, along with Creole, is one of Haiti's official languages.
"Did he use the word 'belle'? Like, pretty girl?" I ask the translator.
"Yeah."
"So he's saying this would be a pretty child?"
"Yeah."
"Do you think he's hinting that the child would be a partner of some sort?"
"Yeah, it's up to you because that kid is yours."
Once again, I can't believe I'm having this conversation -- sitting in the sunshine so casually transacting such diabolical business. Just to make sure I fully understand the offer on the table, I ask, "If I pay $10,000 I essentially own this child?"
"Yeah, it's yours. You do whatever you want."
I've heard enough. I conclude the meeting, once again making sure the trafficker doesn't actually act on my request.
But now comes the craziest part of this wildly disturbing day.
Two waiters sitting nearby call me over. They say they've heard my conversations. At first I think they're going to yell at me or something. I'm bracing for shame. Instead, the waiters offer to sell me a child.
"So you're saying if I want to get a child to live with me, you can help me?" I ask. "Yes," says one of the waiters. "I give you my telephone also."
"About what age?" asks the other watier.
"Maybe 10, 11 years old."
"10 or 11?"
"Yeah," I say. "A girl."
"Ok," says the first waiter, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Ok. I'll help you."
The 'Restaveks'
Having illustrated how horrendously easy it is to buy a child slave in Haiti, let's consider something exponentially more awful: the real scandal here in Haiti is that children are usually just given away.
There are an estimated 300,000 child slaves in Haiti according to UNICEF. This staggering statistic is discussed in E. Benjamin Skinner's "A Crime So Monstrous," a new book about the enormous and often underreported problem of modern day slavery. Click Here to read an excerpt. Skinner has come to Haiti with us. He was the one who gave us the idea to see how long it would take to leave New York City and buy a child slave.
They're called "restaveks" -- a Creole term that means "stay-with." But these children often do more than just "stay with" families; they are usually forced to work from dawn until dusk, and are often underfed, beaten and sexually abused.
To meet some of these restaveks, my team and I traveled into the claustrophobic back alleys of one of Haiti's worst slums, Solino.
Here we find Onise, an achingly beautiful 8-year-old with haunted eyes. Her parents, who live in the countryside, are so poor they simply gave Onise away to a slightly less poor family in Port-au-Prince.
Her owners promised her parents they would pay for Onise's education. But every day, when the other children in the tiny, one-room hovel where the owners live head off to school, Onise stays behind to do housework and run errands.
When we get her alone, she reluctantly tells us about her life.
"When was the last time you talked to your parents?" I ask.
"No," she says. Our translator expands: "She never talks to them."
"Do you miss your parents?"
"Yes," she says, in a nearly inaudible voice.
This child seems dead inside. The insides of her forearms are covered in scars.
"Do they hit you a lot?"
"Yes," she says.
"When you dream, when you think about the things you want to do with your life -- your hopes -- what do you think about?"
"I want to drive a car," she says.
The Promise of School
It is a bleak irony that Haiti is crawling with child slaves. This, after all, is the only nation in modern history to be founded as the result of a slave revolt, in 1804.
It's also a place where parents clearly take great pride in their children's appearance, dolling them up in elaborate school uniforms every weekday morning. Parents here also make massive economic sacrifices to send kids to school, in this country where, for the most part, there are no public schools.
Slave traffickers use Haiti's poverty and lack of opportunity to their advantage.
"They dangle like a diamond necklace the promise of school," says Skinner. As he explains, Haiti's system of child slavery began generations ago. Poor families from the countryside would give their children to wealthy families in the city. The children would do domestic work, but they would also be fed, clothed and educated. It was a sort of social compact.
Even though the system has now morphed into something grotesque, traffickers exploit the false, residual glow of altruism.
"You talk to the traffickers about this," says Skinner, "and they'll often say, 'Well, I'm doing a service to the family that's giving up this child.'"
This bogus sheen of charity is perhaps why we are able to get slave owners to talk to us on camera. (Perhaps it's also because having a slave is so commonplace as to be almost entirely uncontroversial here.)
We meet Onita Aristide in a shantytown precariously perched over a ravine filled with trash and also wild pigs and goats. Aristide is a mother of two who sells sandals in the local market. For four months she's owned a "restavek" nicknamed Ti Soeur (Creole for "little sister.") As usual, Ti Soeur comes from a poor family in the country and spends her days here in the city doing forced labor. She sleeps on the floor of Onita Aristide's tiny home.
"Do you think she has a better life with you than she would have with her parents?" I ask Aristide.
"Yes," she says.
"Why?"
"Because her family is poor and cannot afford to support her."
There are a bunch of hard questions I want to ask this woman, for example, why doesn't she send the girl to school? But the scars on Ti Soeur's arms suggest I should tread lightly.
Knowing Aristide doesn't speak any English, I broach the topic with our translator. "I don't want to push her so hard that she gets angry and takes it out on the kid. Do you think I'm correct?"
"You're correct," he says.
Ti Souer's Hope
We follow Ti Soeur as she goes to fetch water from the communal well. This gives us a chance to ask her questions without her owners hearing.
She's a bright-eyed 11-year-old with short hair. When I ask her questions about the marks on her arm, she says, "The lady did it to me with an electric wire."
As I later learn, this appears to be a standard punishment -- whipping restaveks with the sort of electric cord you might you use to plug in a toaster or a laptop.
"Why would she do that to you?" I ask.
"Because one of the kids in the neighborhood came to see [her] in the house," the translator says.
"So you're not allowed to have any friends?"
"No."
"Do you have any time during the day where you can play, like a normal kid?"
"No. We don't play."
The translator explains, "If she doesn't go and pick up the water, they beat her up. If she doesn't sweep, beat her up."
By the time we visit Ti Soeur at 10 a.m., she's already cooked, cleaned, prepared the family children for school.
"Do you think the situation you're in right now is unfair?" I ask.
"Yes."
"Do you think you'll ever get out of this situation?"
"Yes."
"Do you have hope?"
"Yes."
"Good," I say.
After meeting Ti Souer, we decided to go find her parents, to get a sense of why they would give their child away.
'My Husband Forced Me'
Following a lead, we drive out of the throbbing, chaotic city, hours away, into the lush countryside. It's beautiful out here. We see clouds resting lazily in green valleys. We see women on their way to market, carrying impossibly large loads of goods on their heads.
But you can't miss the deprivation: It's everywhere. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere -- the result of decades of bad, brutal, kleptocratic leadership, and also, many believe, negative interference from outside powers, including the United States.
Haiti's poverty is on full display as we pull up to the house where Ti Soeur's mother lives. It's a shack, housing three families. Nine children live here, including one who we see using a condom as a toy balloon.
Ti Soeur's mother is named Lita Bellevue. After a few pleasantries, I ask her the obvious question.
"Can you tell me how it happened that you gave your daughter up?"
"My husband forced me to do it," she says.
She tells us that Ti Soeur's birth father is dead. Her new husband, who is abusive, forced her to give the child away, she says, because they are too poor to take care of her. However, the husband does not seem willing to part with the two young children he and Lita have had together.
"Can you imagine living without these children?" I ask.
"I cannot live without them," he says, flashing a nervous, toothless grin.
Lita says she's heard rumors that Ti Soeur is being abused by her owners.
"I hear she's being cut all over her arms and her head," she says. "I try very hard to rescue the child, to go see the child, but my husband won't let me."
"When you think about you daughter living this way, how hard is it for you?"
"I feel sick inside," she says.
To help us better understand why parents make these sorts of decisions, we go see Jean-Etienne Charles, a local Pentecostal pastor who preaches against child slavery. He's got a broad, happy face and a thriving church, complete with a school for local kids.
"I do not think that it is because they do not love the child," says Charles of parents who send their kids into servitude. "They love the kids; they love them. But because they think that they cannot take care of them, they turn them to another person."
As a sign of how deeply entrenched this practice is, it turns out that the pastor's family has a girl living with them whom they took on to do domestic work. They have since legally adopted her and are putting her through school, as an example to the families who abuse child slaves.
"I believe that people who do that should be thrown into jail," says Charles. "But the government is not doing anything about it, so that is why the Haitians are doing it."
Now that we've learned that Ti Soeur is stuck between slavery and an abusive, unhappy home, we decide to try our luck with the Haitian government. We go to the Department of Social Services and meet with several senior officials. We show them videotape of Ti Soeur's scars.
"This is unacceptable," says one official. She promises to act as early as possible. We leave feeling confident that Ti Soeur's fate may soon change.
But within days, government officials stop returning our phone calls, and Ti Soeur's case takes some surprising turns.
A Wrenching Scene
We learn that Bellevue, Ti Soeur's mother, has done something brave and extraordinary: she has forced her abusive husband to go and retrieve Ti Soeur from slavery.
With the government seemingly missing in action, we hook up with a social services organization affiliated with the American-based group Beyond Borders.
They work with mother and daughter, reunited as a result of Bellevue's courageous insistence, to get Ti Soeur accepted into a clean, cheerful orphanage.
But it's a mixed blessing for the former child slave.
Her mother is being kicked out of her house, for the crime of having spoken out to her husband. Rather than take Ti Soeur with her into an uncertain, and potentially homeless future, she decided to leave her at the orphanage, where she's safe.
As they're forced to part again, it's a wrenching scene. Ti Soeur is sobbing. She throws herself on the ground, inconsolable.
As we leave her, Ti Soeur seems traumatized, confused and lonely. But she's also, finally, in a place where she'll be fed, educated, safe and free from slavery.
For Haiti's child slaves, this may be as close to a happy ending as you'll find.

Copyright © 2008 ABC News Internet Ventures

Happy Birthday to D,

2008-06-18T20:47:00.004-06:00

Today was my baby boys 3rd birthday. I was very excited that he was home to celebrate with us this year. If you can believe it my camera was totally not functional & A forgot hers in her girl friends car. Can you believe it, his first birthday at home & we have no photos to show all of you. I am so disappointed & will have to go out & buy another camera so we may stage a mock birthday for the photos again real soon. ;) He had a great day & his grin from ear to ear as we brought out the ice cream cake & sang to him was just so precious.

Yesterday we took the little kids to the zoo & spent the day there enjoying the weather & seeing their excitement over all the animals. I have not been to the zoo for probably 15 years & last time I was there I wasn't overly impressed. I have to say the zoo has been renovated beautifully & we had a great time there. We loved it there & will go back to see all the areas we missed yesterday real soon. They both had their first ice cream cone there too yesterday & even ate it without wearing it everywhere, so it was a successful outing.

Last week we did have a follow up appointment at the Infectious Disease Clinic & found out the kids are all parasite free & there is no medical concerns. Still treating the Ring Worm issue with both kids. One thing we did find out though was that C also has Sickle Cell Trait just like D. I was quite shocked to find that out as she had been tested in Haiti & they said she was fine. The good news is neither child has Sickle Cell Anemia they both just have the trait; but it is important for in the future when they want to have children of their own. If their future partner also has Sickle Cell Trait they will have a 1 in 4 chance of having a child with Sickle Cell Anemia.

The dentist appointments last week turned out ok, without tears. C let them clean her teeth & even let the dentist take a look & count them. D would only tolerate them cleaning a couple of teeth before he started fussing a bit, but did let the dentist take a look. Neither child had x-rays done but the dentist said it didn't look like they had any cavaties so I am happy about that. It doesn't explain C's bad breath but I will just start flossing her teeth & brushing for longer periods. he spoke to me about C's protruding front teeth from sucking her thumb & he said not to worry it would not effect her adult teeth unless she is still thumb sucking at 8 or 9 years. Oh I hope that is so true & it won't ruin her adult teeth.

We have no appointments this week, so it is time to catch up around here & play a little. We emptied out our storage unit & brought home everything from it since our basement is now complete. I still need to purchase some shelving units for the storage room so we have somewhere to stack our "stuff", maybe that will get done tomorrow. Our living room, hallway, basement areas are full of stuff so I need to start going through boxes & reassess what needs to be kept & what can go & find a permanent home for all the stuff we are keeping. I can't wait until it is ALL DONE & we can move around our house again without dodging boxes.

We are having a good week so far (knock on wood) so I am not stressed or being a total bag. That could change at a moments notice though, so we will enjoy it while it lasts.

2008-06-13T00:29:00.002-06:00

Aren't they cute?
Kids eager to go for a bike ride with A.

I am seriously lacking some photos of my oldest daughter in here; as she was behind the camera. I will try to get some photos of her tomorrow.

2008-06-12T23:50:00.002-06:00

My 20 year old & second born - yikes I can't believe I can be a Mom to someone that old.
Birthday spoiling - had a great girls outing with Jackie & went out for a manicure & pedicure. Thanks David we both felt like princesses as we left there.
My beautiful flowers. I really do have GREAT kids.
Me fooling around with A's camera to see if I could figure it out. More proof I am getting old wearing my glasses; so I see what I'm doing.
Yikes is my hair always this red?

2008-06-12T23:36:00.001-06:00

He didn't want to cooperate with the photo shoot, slippery kid..........

Getting Old............

2008-06-12T23:13:00.004-06:00

My kids surprised me with this chocolate mousse cake - YUMMY! While I had D at his doctors appointment - yes he will have surgery in August to repair his umbilical hernia, all the other kids had gone & purchased a cake & a big bouquet of flowers. The big kids told C not to tell Mommy they had a cake it was going to be a surprise. The minute I walked in the door C excitedly tells me "Mommy we have a b-day cake for you". A few minutes later she comes & whispers in my ear "Mommy we have a b-day cake". I said "Is it Chocolate?" To which she responded "No it's a secret". :) Gotta Love It.

A towing the littles behind her bike. They LOVE this bike trailer, Thanks Cathrine!

Just Another Manic Sunday

2008-06-08T13:33:00.002-06:00

UGGGGGGG - It is still raining here & I am at the end of my rope. Man if I wanted to live somewhere rainy I would pack up & move to Vancouver. Where is the hot dry summer they were forecasting? I am way behind the eight ball this year & haven't planted any flowers or anything. Now with the constant rain for the past three weeks everything is so muddy it will be awhile before I am able to do any planting even when it does finally stop. I find this weather incredibly depressing & look forward to lounging in the sun & having bbq's hopefully at some point in the near future.

Last week on June 5 my oldest son turned 20 years old. My camera is still on the fritz so I have no photographic evidence of this momentous occasion. We went out for Vietnamese food to celebrate; which was a treat as we have both been dieting for the last couple of weeks. This week is my 46th birthday (Yikes) & next week is D's 3rd birthday so our house is full of Gemini's.

A good friend of mine was hurt very badly in a quad accident out in the middle of nowhere last Sunday & spent five days on the trauma unit. He busted five ribs on each side, some in multiple places, puntured one lung, collapsed both lungs, hurt his shoulder & is extremely lucky to be alive. Please send your thoughts & prayers to David as he begins the road to recovery. Glad you made it Dave, I don't know what I would do without you!

Kids went in on Thursday & got caught up on all their vaccinations. C had to get six needles & D needed five. C got really upset once the needles came out & really yelled & cried as we went through them. D cried as well but was not as upset as C. We did C first & then she went out to sit with big sis while I took D in for his needles. When I came out after that, C was lying limp in A's arms unwilling to talk or respond at all. It scared me & as I was talking to her the nurse came out & I alerted her to C's condition. She went & got the kids an apple juice & then C came back around very quickly. Not sure what that was about but it scared me. I do have to take them back in one month & have the MMR & Hep B boosters but then they will be done.

This is a busy week for appointments for us. Monday we need to go to the Adoption Clinic as well & get more Ring Worm meds for both kidlets. Thursday D is going to the Children's to be seen by a surgeon for his umbilical hernia. Friday will be check up & cleaning at the dentist. I am not too concerned about Monday & Thursday's appointments but I am concerned for the dentist appointment. C screams really loud when she is scared or upset so I am a little leary about how she will react. I have taken them in for a happy visit to the dentist office & even riding in the chair during that brief tour of the office she was whining.

Spoke to my folks yesterday & my Mom is in a lot of pain right now & doctors are still trying to figure out what is going on with her. She is having lots of pain when she moves (no pain while seated) & is now having to use two canes to get around. Mom does have bone cancer but has been in remission for some time; but she still does morphine for pain control every four hours; so if this is hurting her that badly even while on her meds I do find it worrisome. She is going in for bone scans etc this week so please keep her in your thoughts & prayers as well. She has had an ultra sound, MRI & x-rays already & they are still waiting on results. Mom was moving quite well when the kids & I were visiting a couple of weeks ago so this is a recent development.

Tonight A & B will be going to their Dad's to have B's birthday dinner with them. So the little kids & I will be all alone tonight.

A is doing her lifeguard training this weekend at a lake right by our house as she is working there full-time for the summer. Yesterday they did not have to go in the lake as it was raining so hard but they practiced search patterns & drills of what to do when a child goes missing. Today they were having to go in the water (unheated; it will be cold- outdoor man-made lake) & the air temperature is only 12 degrees C - brr she will be freezing. I did pick her up a wet suit but it is not full length so she will be a popsicle. Oh by the way Mom - A no longer has dreads in her hair. :) She & Paul spent about 18 hours getting them all out. I can't believe they got them out - I thought for sure she would have to cut it all off . She went & got her hair cut after & I like it so much better. Her hair is poker straight like mine & it just wasn't locking right; always looked messy & had hairs sticking up all over (breakage or new growth). She liked it in dreads but parts were falling out & she couldn't fix them so they had to go. She gave it a good effort but it didn't work so well. I will post before & after shots off her camera soon.

I had to go in for this little procedure a couple of weeks ago. I was getting irregular pap tests so had to start going to the hospital to keep an eye on things every few months. The second time there the cells had progressed to a stage that required a procedure called a Cervical L.E.E.P (loop electrosurgical excision procedure). My girlfriend took a day off work to take me in to have this done. I didn't feel nervous about it at the time but once I got to the hospital & they took me back in the room & explained what was going to happen & sign my life away I started to feel a little apprehensive. I went back out to the waiting room & was telling Diane what was going to happen when all of a sudden I had severe pain all along the bottom of my ribs & chest area, couldn't breathe well, got hot & clammy & felt faint. Diane got me wet towels & I finally managed to get myself under control doing breathing exercises like I was about to give birth. My name was called so I went into the room & told the doctor & nurse that I thought maybe I had just had an anxiety attack? I have never had that happen before. So they checked my blood pressure & pulse & said I was ok & did I want to reschedule? I said no I am here now lets do this. So once they started I had another attack & the nurse said I went pale & she kept cold towels on me & monitored my pulse. Again that feeling left after about five minutes. All the way home I kept having these attacks coming in waves & then waning. They were getting more painful all the time & finally Diane said I am taking you to the hospital - one closer to home, but before we got there the chest pain had stopped again, so I told her I just wanted to go home. Got in the house, put a magic bag on my chest, had a cup of hot tea & cuddled with my baby & I calmed right down & never had another episode. So is that what an anxiety attack is like? Wow it was painful & scary it felt like a heart attack for a little while. Anyway that was a couple of weeks ago & it has not happened again since.

Little ones are napping so I better sign off for now & go get something accomplished while I still have a chance.

Hugs, Laur