Valentines 628

I read an article once that said it takes an adopted child the same amount of time in the home as they spent in the orphanage for them to fully feel like a true family member.  My daughter, from the time she was found at about 8 weeks old, spent 20 months, plus a few days in an orphanage in China.

To be exact, she lived in the orphanage for 627 days.

Last week I was doing the math, accounted for leap year and realized that officially, as of today, our Quiet Tiger has been with us, in our care, in our family, longer than she lived in the orphanage.

Today, on Valentine's Day 2014, she has been in our family for 628 days.

The days have ranged from good, to awesome, to bad, to horrible and back around again.  Raising a child from a tough place is tough business.  Adoption is not for the faint of heart!

But I pray that as we continue to move forward, our Quiet Tiger will feel more and more like a member of our family, that the scars from her broken past will be completely healed and that she will be happy and proud to be in our family!

You Did It!

Well done, good and faithful servants!

Check out the ticker above!  In just one month's time, you raised OVER $1000 for the Marquis family and their adoption of their waiting daughter in China!

The "Anonymous Donor" has matched your $1000, dollar-for-dollar and has made a deposit into the account this morning that should show up later today.  That's $2000 to help with the remaining adoption fees.

I speak with Hilary fairly regularly, almost weekly, A LOT and each time I made a plea for your help, you stepped up and she saw it happen.  In fact, we were on the phone yesterday when that last donation came in, taking the total over $1000, and we did our happy dances in our respective kitchens together, choking back tears.

And each time, 

she was floored by your generosity!  

Most of you kept your names private, so Hilary and Tim cannot personally thank you for your generosity.  Hilary and Tim want me to thank all of you who donated either by name or anonymously!  They are so very grateful!  As donations rolled in and Hilary thought of all of you giving so generously, I could hear the lump in her throat as she begged me to...

"Please, please, please 

thank everyone so very much!"

So thank you, friends!  

I thank you.  

The Marquis family thanks you.  

And one day, when she's able to comprehend it all, 

their sweet daughter will thank you 

for giving her a hope and a future with an 

amazing forever family.

Please keep praying.  And please keep giving if you can by clicking here.  The adoption fees are FAR FROM OVER!  Their 20 year old car is dying and might not make it.  If you know of anyone looking to donate a vehicle, this family could really use it!

This family really needs your support!

Happy New Year!

January 31st was the official Chinese New Year!  Welcome Year of the Horse!  I'm a little late in posting our celebration because events covered a number of dates and I wanted to include it all in one post.

After Christmas I began really trying to organize the house.  Although I didn't specifically do this with Chinese New Year in mind, it is certainly among the holiday tradition to clean house -- to clean out the old year, the bad luck and be fresh and clean for the new year and the good luck.  I organized closets, the pantry, the laundry room and even the garage which honestly had never been cleaned since we moved in.  It was left very much in "dumping ground" state.  It is now beautifully cleaned and organized and labeled!

My friend Sheri in Nebraska told me about a paper mache lion that we could order for $10 with profits going towards anti-trafficking efforts in Vietnam.  It is simply awesome and it's the centerpiece on our dining room table.  The only thing I really wish I had were some authentic, nylon, red lanterns.  I'll order some online next year.

As you can see, I couldn't be more excited about this lion head.
The tail is easily 3 1/2 feet long!
I adore it!

Thanks to my daughter's attitude problem and temper tantrums that threw me over the edge, I held off our holiday feast until January 31, rather than serving it the night before as tradition would have it.  Our Chinese New Year feast consisted of dumplings, noodles and tangerines.  Delicious!  For dessert I made a Chinese rice pudding filled with fruits and red bean paste.  Too bad L didn't like the dessert, which really surprised me.  It was okay, but I probably won't make it again if she doesn't like it.

Dinner is served!

On Sunday we went to church, our Quiet Tiger dressed in the new qipao that I bought her for Christmas online (my plan every year), visited the local Asian market and their annual New Year's celebration which is always a HUGE hit with our family!  This year I remembered red envelopes with singles for tips for the awesome dragon dancers.

This year I opted for an aqua blue dress because the color is
absolutely scrumptious on her!

On Tuesday I taught about Chinese New Year at our homeschool co-op.  This was my first time teaching the group and I think it was well received.  It was a small group but the kids were really attentive and I think they really enjoyed the craft.

First, I read from a picture book that I ordered on Amazon.  It explains the holiday (albeit a bit more Cantonese than anything, which would not be my daughter's heritage) and customs in a very simple form.

My First Chinese New Year
by Karen Katz
A good book that does speak of celebrations relative to Southern China,
but still a good idea of what the holiday is like.

Then we made paper lanterns for our craft.

The boys with their paper lanterns.

Then we had snacks.  I had Goldfish crackers to symbolize the whole fish eaten at Chinese New Year, a clementine for each student in lieu of the tangerines, and a fortune cookie with a Bible verse inside (I know they are American and not Chinese, but they are fun and certainly explained that).  I also had made horse cookies, which was my own touch, but the glaze didn't dry in time for me to take them, so we have plenty of horse cookies to share at home!

The red and gold horse cookies that didn't dry until after our co-op.

So now that it's all over I can relax.  Happy New Year!  Here's to a wonderful Year of the Horse!

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