Catching Up

On Good Friday our church put together a turkey dinner for a local shelter. The kids made some cards to give out during the meal. 

The kids also decorated some cupcakes. I have done this with birthday parties before and the cupcakes end up loaded with candy. But the kids always enjoy their masterpieces.

Wow. Just a week ago was our annual Bunny Day hunt. I made up 5 bags of candy for my family but only one child chose to hunt this year. 

Did she find one?

Kaylin was along to give out some hints. Found it!!!

Gaëlle enjoying the fruit of her labour. Interestingly enough, Peter was the first one to go through his candy this time. Usually Gaëlle obsesses when there is candy around, but this time she handled it well and ate a bit at a time and didn't constantly hound us. I hope this continues for her.

Volunteering for Life

Emily has had several volunteer opportunities over the years and sometimes finds herself over committed. And when she commits to an organization, person, idea, she doesn't just show up; she totally involves herself, which contributes to her overcommitment. This year she was recognized for that type of enthusiasm. 

She has spent lots of time with an organization called THE CLUB. They offer programs and drop in times for youth and adults with mental and physical disabilities. They basically welcome anybody who feels excluded. So not only has Emily spent lots of time there, she did what she does best and she initiated a therapy option. She started a puppet club. Now that sounds simple enough but Emily is one who goes above and beyond and made sure anybody who wanted to, could participate. She really put a lot of thought and creativity into the performances. It has been a wonderful tool for some of the youth who don't normally get excited about other activities. 

This Wednesday the ceremony was held, and she received recognition for her efforts. Way to go Emily. I know this isn't just a way to pass time for Emily but a way of life. 

I'm ending this week with a picture demonstrating how much Peter eats. This is his second plate of food one night this week. He had already polished off a full plate and this was his second go. He finished off his meal with a bowl of ice cream. It's no wonder we never have left overs around here.

Junk food to soothe our souls

Well I don't have any pictures of Peter this week, so instead I'll post a picture of what Peter did. We made whoopee pies last week and used Fluff for the icing. So, of course I bought the larger jar and we have lots of fluff left over. What to do? Make fluffed nutter sandwiches. Sunday morning I came down into the kitchen to see Peter's attempt at spreading the fluff on top of the peanut butter. Clumps of fluff and not much else. 

Just so you know, I'm not entirely a bad mom when it comes to nutrition. The declaration has been made, that fluff only comes out on the weekends. Both kids have tested this during the past week, but I remain firm. I don't need the kids bragging about the marshmallows they have for breakfast. 

On Monday Gaëlle had an appointment with the endocrinologist and had blood work done. Blood was taken, then hormones were injected to stimulate the pituitary gland and after 40 minutes, another sample was taken. She was very nervous and anxious about this appointment. She was hyper focused on the nurse and IV as this procedure was taking place. Lots of questions. There was a second nurse in the room helping to keep the arm straight and stationary and she tried her best to distract Gaëlle, but she was focused and would not engage with this nurse. Our experience has been great so far and I'm so thankful for a wonderful children's hospital in our city.

As you can see, we brought the tablet so she could watch a movie and she had a bag of sun chips, so it wasn't all bad. Looks quite comfortable to me. 

We've already received the results and we have decided to pursue treatment for precocious puberty. I first heard about this from another adoptive mom's blog and until that time had no idea what this was and what the issues were. As this is quite common with our adopted children, please feel free to ask me questions privately. 

Friday night and all is well with our world. We purchased the movie Frozen and Gaëlle enjoyed her bowl of popcorn and the movie. It's such a clever movie about the love shared between sisters. We absolutely love it and we love the music.