Tricks and Olympics

Shawn was able to pick up the bunk bed for Jonah on Thursday and we put it together on Friday afternoon. Anju immediately figured out some tricks on "Nona's new bed". She would come running in the living room to get me and say, "Watch, Mama! Watch Andu do tick!" and then we would go to Jonah's room and she would show me a trick--climbing a step onto the ladder and either flinging herself onto the bed or doing a little flip. Each one was followed with arms open wide and a "Ta-da!"

Today she told me 3 times during church or Sunday School that she needed to go potty. (I was informed it was not a "toiet", it was a "Mama potty". Well, now I know. The first two times she went she told me her poop "wasn't ready". Well, the third time was a charm. And upon hearing the splash in the toilet, out went her arms and, "Ta-da!"

This made the fact that Jonah found scissors in the Sunday School room between church and Sunday School and decided to give one side of his head of hair a trim much more bearable. I'm going to let him go to school like that a few days before fixing it.

The last night of skating for the Solveig and Jonah was set up as an Olympics. They were able to rotate from sport to sport, winning prizes like a carnival. There was bobsled, hockey, speed skating etc.---no ski jumping that I could see, however.

Solveig tries her arm at curling with a jug of water and a markered on target.

Jonah and snoopy built a Lincoln Log lighthouse.

We have had Olympic fever here at the Stafford home.

Here are our trusty Olympic-watching pals--ever present on our couch.

Solveig had difficulty staying awake to watch skating.

Anju enjoys watching with Pooh.

(Wearing a Solveig classic outfit from 2001)

Matthew 6:25-35

We've needed new beds for the kids for quite awhile. Ever since Jonah outgrew his toddler bed (he's 7 now) he's been sleeping on the bottom part of an old metal trundle bed I had as a teenager (and I believe it was from a garage sale even then) downstairs and Solveig has been sleeping on the top part of it upstairs. Well, did I mention it was metal? A disobedient boy jumping on his bed (occasionally I hear 2-year old help with this) has caused the metal corners of a meant-to-be-temporary bed to completely peel through 2 or 3 coats of paint on his wall, and it will no longer stay down in the locked position if you were to want to make it a true trundle again. So, he is currently on a mattress on the floor. (Part discipline, part safety.)

The same day we remove Jonah's bed frame from his room, we hear a huge thump from upstairs at bedtime. It's Solveig. The bottom of her bed has fallen apart and there she is, slanted and looking confused on a bed that's trying to dump her out.

So, I resumed (with more fervor this time) my search for proper beds for these kids. Although I've been looking with no luck for over 2 years for used bunk beds, and raced to many a garage sale even half an hour early to find them sold already, I check out Craigslist for kicks. There are 2 postings for bunk beds on there--both in Bemidji. We were able to arrange to get one set right away. Talk about divine intervention! So, on Sunday we took 2 station wagons- gotta love 'em- (one for the bed and one for the kids) to Bemidji and picked up the new bed for the girls' room. Hopefully, the other party will respond again soon and we'll be able to get the other one for Jonah's room. Now praying for further divine intervention in providing the 2 mattresses for the upper bunks! (Not big on used mattresses, so we'll perhaps splurge on these when our tax $$$ comes.)

Speaking of tax $$$----other breaking news-----today was our scheduled appointment with the tax man (clergy taxes are not for the faint of heart), so I spent several hours last night adding up receipts and mileage amounts and business expenses and parsonage allowances, blah, blah, blah. I fill out the little worksheet they send except for Anju's SS#- where I put "on it's way". Well, wouldn't you know it--as we're about to head out the door for our 9:00 appointment what should come in the mail??? Anju's SS card!! Two weeks to the day since we applied. So, the tax man has all that he needs and our refund shouldn't be too long. Yay!!!

What we've been doing:

Nothing much. The usual.

We had a half day of school on Thursday, and then no school Friday or Pres. Day Monday.

We had school conferences on that Thursday.

We had visitors Thursday-Monday, too.

We had a youth lock-in for church Sunday (Valentine's Day) through Monday, which my husband arranged and I helped out at.

Solveig is in a musical at school and has a lead role. So, there's been musical practice to pick her up from a few times a week........one time I wish she went to school a bit closer to home.

And ice skating for both kids. Only one more week left!

Oh yes, it's now Lent. That means my husband has 3 services plus Confirmation class each Wednesday now. I'll see him again at Easter, I guess.

We ordered a new crisper for the fridge since some child thought kicking the crisper shut was a good idea.

When the crisper arrived by UPS at suppertime, somehow Anju and Jonah ended up jumping in and out of the box filled with those static-filled styrofoam peanuts and making a huge mess.

We got our new cell phone in the mail and we don't really understand how to use it. It didn't come with a manual, of course. You need to look up each issue online. Yay!

One child has been having behavior issues.

I've been working on a Lifebook for Anju to give her for her birthday and have been trying to come up with the right way to discuss the circumstances of her birth and how she came to live in an orphanage. I think I've got the wording ok, but I'm sure some adoption psychologist would have a better way.

I've had a toddler checking up on me a lot lately, too. I hear, "Whatcha doin', Mama?" pretty much every 30 seconds or so all day long and it really loses it's cute factor after about a half hour.

We've been watching the Olympics whenever we can. Whenever Anju sees a commercial for it, she yells, "Mama, it's on!"

So, as you can see, we're bored. Maybe something will happen soon that I can write about.

Spy stuff and other very important pictures

Solveig received this from her family on her actual birthday

after a full day of school, musical practice and ice skating

Secret agent watches

Solveig's friends loved playing with Anju

Solveig and her guests after watching an episode of "Get Smart"

Jonah and his snow monster

What Anju looks like when she is "not sleepy"

Adventures with the SSA

Even with many local schools 2 hours late because of yet another snowstorm (no such luck for Solveig and Jonah), we ventured out yesterday to Bemidji to the Social Security office to get Anju's SS number. With her Certificate of Citizenship application only 3 months into a 4-6 month processing time, and following the advice of our agency to go for the COC first to expedite the passport application process, we had no proof of Anju's citizenship. However, since you don't need to be a citizen to get a SS number, we decided that being able to claim Anju on our taxes was worth the later minor inconvenience of stopping back in and having her changed in the system from "resident alien" to "citizen".

So, we revved the car through the pile of snow leading to the poorly plowed driveway and entered the building. Since all the cars there (all 5 of them) were parked in a line away from the main door, I figured we were the only ones there, and we were. Once inside, the security guard had to show us how to use the touch-screen computer at the door to get a number printed out for us. Ha! So, we got our number and took a seat in the waiting room. By the time our behinds got on the chairs, a woman came to one of the windows and said, "You guys can come up here now." Good thing we had that number, as another group of people came in a half hour later and there might have been some confusion as to who was next!

We had our adoption decree, Anju's birth certificate, her Indian passport and her green card. When she asked if Anju was adopted from the US or another country, I told the lady right away we didn't yet have citizenship proof as it takes 4-6 months and she nodded her head and said, "Yep, it does. That's fine." The SS lady interviewed Shawn and filled out everything on her computer herself while we watched and read the posters on the wall showing us which languages you could get an interpreter for if you needed them. As I considered asking how many people come to Bemidji needing a Tagalog translator, and Shawn pointed out to me the differences between Biblical Greek and Modern Greek using said poster, Anju snacked on Goldfish crackers she dug out of my purse.

When all was said and done, she said they needed to verify the documents, and then it'd be about 2 weeks and we'd have her card in the mail. You never want your child to be "just a number", but a name AND a number will be quite valuable in 2 weeks at our tax appointment!

The "Bump" Dilemma

My little "baby" is growing up. She's using the potty more and more frequently (yay enticing Elmo underwear) and I'm thinking about soon introducing her to the toddler bed. Nearly 3, she's finally starting to wear some size 24 months clothes (although most of her pants are still 12 or 18 months).

So here's my dilemma. Anju has a bump on her back associated with her spina bifida. Many of you know this. It's not just a bump, but a bump with a big scar on it that's right at her lumbar area just where the shirt hits the pants. So, active kid = exposed bump.

In India, I hadn't given it much thought until Shawn pointed out that as I was holding her, her shirt was riding up and people were staring and pointing at her back. I didn't want her getting that kind of attention, so was pretty careful about pulling down her shirt over there. When we got home, depending on who we were with, I made careful plans to conceal the bump. Dresses, rompers, onesies, bibs---they all do the trick of covering that area nicely as long as they aren't too tight to the body in that location. One out of every 3 swimsuits we've tried has a shallow enough back opening to keep her bump concealed--as long as it is a one-piece.

Now that she's getting close to being out of baby sizes where rompers and onesies are plentiful---and now that all the one-pieces really interfere with potty training---what should be my plan? I'm certainly not ashamed of her back--and don't want her to be either. But as she goes out more in the world, it's probably not the first thing she wants advertised about herself, either. Should she be wearing dresses (the only potty-accessible thing I can think of that covers an active kid's back) every day while her siblings throw on a t-shirt and capris or jeans? Do I just let her wear whatever she wants and teach her how to talk about her scar to other kids (not sure what age that would be practical)?

Such a minor problem- I know. She is so blessed. Of all the complications she could have with her spinal defect, her issues are all on the extreme minor end of the scale. We pray that continues throughout her lifetime. But as a parent, you want to do the right thing- and you worry about everything. Especially when it comes to "disability". You want to have the right attitude- maybe not the politically correct one of the minute-- but the one that leaves your child with the best impression of themselves and their place in the community at large. The potential of creating the appearance of shame vs. old-fashioned discretion. That's the dilemma.

Spice of Life

I'm behind with loading pics (amongst a million other things), but soon you'll see some wonderful pictures of Solveig's 10th birthday party we held on Saturday. It had a spy theme-- complete with code books, secret messages, suicide pills (tic tacs)----the works. The kids made secret agent watches with a special compartment to hold their poison/codes/secret weapons and they had a blast.

Today, Shawn had a pastor's meeting in Bemidji, so Anju and I took the opportunity to go along and shop. We live 35 miles away from what most would consider actual stores--so we don't make trips more than weekly- if that. She is a great companion, but today the hours of shopping (meeting was from 9-3) caught up with her. She was a lot like shopping with my late grandfather. "Yeah, they all look great. Buy them all and let's go!"

Herberger's had a great sale--75% off the clearance price. So, I was doing some serious looking. With each item I found, Anju would say, "Buy?"---she was ready to check out. She finally held out her hand (like "talk to the hand") and said, "Mama, no more." So, to avoid a meltdown, we headed to the check out and bought our load of treasures. On the way out, I spotted a darling Easter dress in the toddler section, and stopped the stroller to show Anju. She immediately turned around and furrowed her brow. "No, Mama. Mama already BUY! No more!"

Hint taken.

Earlier at Target, I spotted a giant Toblerone bar in the candy section. "Yum-my!" I said to her with great expression. She said, "No, Mama. Yum-Anju! Not yum-you!"

At the grocery store, I handed her the items to put in the cart as we went along to keep her occupied. She started asking me if each thing was spicy or not. I have no idea why. When it got to the can of Mexican chiles, I answered that it indeed was spicy, unlike the eggplant or the hummus sitting next to her in the cart. She said, "Andu don't like spicy" and handed it back to me. Obviously she is listening to her brother and sister too much (Scandinavians), because she DOES like spicy.

So, at least she kept me entertained.

I'm off to make tacos---both spicy ones, and un-spicy ones.