Decorated Livingroom
Happy Valentine's Day! (One Day Late!) I'm pretty sure that V-Day is my favorite holiday. Well, Christmas ranks right up there too, but it is such a busy, busy, go-go-go time of the year.
I do the "12 Days of Valentine's Day" for John. Each day he gets a little treat in his lunch, or a small gift, or a note or e-card, etc. Some are "romantical," and some are practical. In other words, I've been enjoying V-Day for about two weeks now! lol!
But yesterday! Oh, what a wonderful day it was! I'm sure the kids will remember yesterday forever. It was AwEsOmE! First off, yesterday morning before the kids got up, I sprinkled Valentine candy on the floor in the kids' rooms. The girls were actually awake, but oh-so-still secretly watching me dole out the goods. As soon as I left their room, I heard the flick of their light go on, and alllllll kinds of giggles. Adam says he was "half-awake" though because his loft is so high, he didn't see me at least. It was really fun.
John made me breakfast in bed!! Can you believe it! I thought that was sooo sweet! Brought me my tea and everything! (I'm becoming a Yerba Mate freak... anyone else out there drink that stuff?)
When the kids came out of their rooms (and I came out of mine!), they all greeted me with their fingertips on their heads to make themselves into hearts. Hard to explain, but I'm pretty sure you got the picture.
After the kids did school yesterday (and boy were they diligent getting through it, since they knew what was coming later!), we went out to the storage shed, and dug through the Christmas decorations looking for our white lights. Then, we came back in, and turned our livingroom into what sooo reminded me Prom Night. We also blew up ten large red, pink and white balloons and made a big clump of them hanging from/around the ceiling fan, which is also where the lights all radiated from. (Hence, the Prom Night effect.) THEN, we cut out a gazillion red hearts, hung them from gold ribbons alllll over the livingroom. We all vacuumed, dusted, cleaned and de-cluttered, until our livingroom was fit for a King.
Before John came home, we set up a table in the middle of the livingroom, with a pretty white table cloth, three small candles and sprinkled the table with candy. We put out the "good" dishes, and then played some nice classical music (rather loudly! lol), and all of us got dressed up in our favorite fancy clothes. Liana wanted to wear her dress-up dress *sigh*, but Aleksa put on her blue satin/black velvet Christmas dress. Adam had a white shirt and tie (plus a tie tack, which he was soooo proud of!) The kids proceeded to ball-room dance all over the room. John came home to the fanciest livingroom/family in town! :O) (And he came home with roses for me from a *way* too expensive flower shop in town.) *gulp*
For supper, we had strawberry heart-shaped pancakes, which John actually finished cooking while I took turns dancing with the kids. John made sure to get some good dancing in with his girls too. We alllll loved, loved, loved every minute.
After supper, John's parents dropped by to give us all some Valentine treats, and it was fun to see their reaction to our "Valentine Atmosphere." The kids filled their pockets with cut-out hearts that they had worked so hard on this afternoon.
After the Fishers left, we took down the table, and then made a "pin the tail on the donkey" kind of a game. Except it was a big heart, and we used the little hearts that the kids had already cut out as "tails." It was so fun to watch the kids giggle at each other (and us!) as we tried to feel our way around the room to go put our hearts on the board. (Which was the cardtable leaned up against the couch, btw). Adam won two out of the three games we played, and we're pretty sure there has to be a hole in the blindfold we used that only Adam knew about!
After "Pin the Heart on the Heart," we played pick-up sticks, which is the kids' new favorite game. John is the cheater in that game. He always seems to beat us all by about 15 sticks or so. (At least that's what it seems like!) lol
At the end of the night, we laid out a blanket, and we all flopped down on the floor and talked about what Love was, and what we did during the day that was loving, and how much fun it is to do hard work if it is because you love someone, etc. We sang a few songs, and then, sadly, we had to call it a night. Such a wonderful, wonderful day! I'm SOOOOOOOOO glad we didn't just call a sitter and go out... we would have missed out on one of the most wonderful days EVER. We plan to go out on Friday, but for the official "Valentines Day," I'm so glad we made it a family day.
I tried to upload some more video onto that website the other day, and they told me I had hit my capacity. *sigh* I'll have to figure something else out. There are so many I'd love to share!
Guess it's time to take down the twinkle lights and the balloons. *sigh* I guess all good things have to end some time! Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!
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5 comments:
WOW, sounds like a perfect day! The photo is lovely and of COURSE it is because there is so much love in your home! Glad to share in your joy... (smile) -- Laurel in Tulsa
I am going to steal your candy idea, if you don't mind. Too fun. Honestly, your happy posts bring me real joy. It is nice to know of someone who adopted 3 at once and is enormously successful. I wonder if it is because (I'm comparing you to a local friend) you went into it wanting a family, and not "perfect" kids. I think sometimes my friend with the 3 kids, was a little too dreamy about it. Her reality is much different.
The photo is too sweet.
NJ Mom, I took care of those extra posts for ya! ;O)
I'm sorry to hear that another family isn't having a similar experience as we are. I hope everyone goes into their adoption with their eyes wide open to what they *could* come home with. If they are seeking perfectly healthy, perfectly psychologically fit, beautiful, talented, smart kids, then, UFF are they going to be in for a wake up call.
Any sibling set of three who find themselves in an orphanage are wounded people. Why have they been put there? Did their parents die? Were they killed? Did the children see it? Did they die of a disease (AIDS?), or other communicable disease? Did a grandmother try to mother them and then decided she couldn't afford it? Were they abandoned on a street corner? Were the parents' rights terminated? If so, why? Were the children abused? How? Was there alcohol involved? (If rights were terminated, then you can pretty much assume both of the above.) Have you read up on RAD and FAS? Do you know what effects institutionalization has on children? Ready for food issues? Ready for "stuff" issues? Ready for behavior issues? Ready for huge learning gaps? Ready for speech issues? Ready for health issues? Ready? Ready? Ready? ;O)
What are you willing to come home with? What are your priorities? Health? Age? Gender? Number? Figure those things out and go from there. You certainly don't want to try to discern those things while sitting at the NAC office in Kyiv, and you sure don't want to realize it when you've been home six weeks.
Lately I've been really disgusted with everything happening in Ukraine. They have closed adoptions to Americans unless your dossiers have been accepted already. Who knows if or when the ban will be lifted, and I'm just plain sick about it. So many children are stuck there. Ukraine is open to other countries, so hopefully those countries will be more willing to adopt larger sibling groups, but statistically, I think the US has brought home those groups of 3+. It pretty much stinks.
I don't even know how many "about-to-travel" readers are out there any more - we've been home 1 1/2 years today!, but if anyone out there IS on their way to Ukraine soon, I do hope they consider sibling groups, and I do hope they consider the questions I posted above. It may save them a big shock/surprise/disappointment/heartache later.
Shelly - very well said indeed.
I was infertile for a long time and it does wear on a person in ways one can never imagine. One of the ways, I think, is that you can get lulled (deceived) into thinking you just want to be a parent - you could cope with this, or that. How hard could (this or that)be when you are as willing and ready as we are? Besides, we would devote ourself to getting this child totally well. Or whatever.
I was enormously desperate to be a mom (when I was infertile)and almost unable to be rational. Thats where my husband came in....
Fortunately, God protected me in spite of my ignornace and directed us toward the child He had set apart for us, from the beginning of time.... She is a gift and abundantly more than I ever dreamed one child could be. Parenting, even in the best circumstances (however you define them), is hard. PAPS are wise to go into it with their eyes wide open.
Just my musings!
That was me again, NJ Mom, who just posted.
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